Asian Americans and the Spirit of Racial Capitalism: Race, Religion, and Democracy | Jonathan Tran

Why does contemporary antiracism devolve into identity politics and white guilt, each of which leaves standing structures and systems destructive to minoritized life? Why does antiracism marginalize Asian Americans, those already marginalized by racism? Can religion, and Christianity in particular, play a constructive role in anti-racism’s democratic future? Developing themes from his recent book, Asian Americans and the Spirit of Racial Capitalism (Oxford University Press, 2021), Baylor’s Jonathan Tran offers a wide-ranging discussion of some of our most pressing questions.
Jonathan Tran is Professor of Philosophical Theology and George W. Baines Chair of Religion in the Department of Religion at Baylor University. Professor Tran joined Baylor’s Religion Department in 2006 after completing his graduate studies in theology and ethics at Duke University. His research examines the theological and political implications of human life in language. His most recent book is Asian Americans and the Spirit of Racial Capitalism (Oxford University Press, 2021).
Presented by the Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion and co-sponsored by the Othering and Belonging Institute, the Asian American Research Center, and the Graduate Theological Union.
This talk is a part of BCSR's Public Forum on Race, Religion, Democracy and the American Dream series. For more information on the other talks in this series, please visit our webpage: bcsr.berkeley....