I argued that the Tradinista case for a Catholic socialism is based on a bait and switch. The “bait” is the adoption of a definition of socialism broad enough to ensure its compatibility with Catholic teaching. The “switch” is the advocacy for a particular form of socialism as if it had been established that this form is compatible with Catholic teaching, when that is far from the case.
Tradinistas: A New Catholic Socialism?
In a post published on Friday, I discussed a recently established group, the Tradinistas, who seek to wed a traditional Catholicism with socialism. In that post, I began an assessment of the Tradinistas’ attempt at a Catholic socialism to date, which I will continue in this post.
Kyle Lambelet is Assistant Professor in the Practice of Theology and Ethics at Emory University's Candler School of Theology. He teaches and researches at the intersection of political theology, religious ethics, and social change. His first book ¡Presente! Nonviolent Politics and the Resurrection of the Dead (Georgetown University Press, 2019) explores the moral and political dimensions of nonviolent struggle through an extended case study of the movement to close the School of the Americas. His current research examines the apocalyptic dimensions of talk about climate change, and how apocalyptic political theologies can offer resources for pastoral and political engagement in the midst of endings. His research has been published in the Journal of Religious Ethics, Political Theology, Social Analysis, and the Journal of Anglican Studies.
Symposium Essays
Tradinistas: A New Catholic Socialism?, Part 1
The economic crisis of 2007-08 contributed to an increasing sense of disillusionment with the mainstream economic thinking of the left and particularly of the right, and as a result a number of heterodox ideas and traditions have gained renewed interest. This disillusionment has led to a great deal of ferment in Catholic circles in particular because Catholic social thought offers an intellectually rich tradition of thinking on economic issues that does not fit easily into mainstream categories.