Utopia on the Small Screen: How Political-Theological Thought Translates into Digital Community Organizing

Christian Henkel

Christian Henkel
T眉bingen University聽

顿补迟别:听September 20, 2018
Location:聽Boisi Center, 24 Quincy Road

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Abstract

In the digital age, yesterday鈥檚 grand utopias have morphed into small-scale utopias as technological entrepreneurs pick up alternative visions of society and scale them down into apps and digital services. 鈥淯topia on the small screen鈥 is already happening as we use our phones to monitor our healthy lifestyle, transform our houses into smart homes, and connect with others to occupy Wall Street.聽 Henkel's research focuses on how political theologians 鈥 with years of community organizing and the struggle against the concrete realities of communal politics behind them 鈥 could speak meaningfully about these developments. Its starting point will be to show where we already engage in small-scale utopian thinking through the usage of digital tools and how political theology with its emphasis on the 鈥渁lready and not yet鈥 can contribute new ideas to engage more deeply with our surroundings, the way we treat our bodies, the place where we live, and the connections we make. He will end his investigations by proposing a series of small-scale interventions, named 鈥渢he Faithlab鈥, that seek to revitalize political theological thinking in an inner-city community.聽聽

Speaker Bio

Christian Henkel

Christian Henkel聽is a Visiting Scholar at the Boisi Center and a Researcher and Executive Director at the Institute for Ecumenical and Interreligious Research at Tuebingen University in Germany. His interests focus on political theology and its connections with questions of migration, digitization, and faith-based community organizing. Recent publications include, 鈥淭urn over the table? Practices of faith-based lobbying for undocumented migrants" In聽Menschenrechte in der Katholischen Kirche. Ed. by Marianne Heimbach-Steins. and "On Charismatic Influencers and Christian Filter-Bubbles" In聽forum erwachsenenbildung聽51.2, pp. 31鈥35. Henkel received his Ph.D. from the University of Muenster (Germany).

Event Photos

Henkel Talking

Christian Henkel, visiting scholar from T眉bingen University, speaks about utopias in the digital age and the way political theology can grant insights into our surroundings.

Henkel Talking
Henkel talking

Photos by MTS Photography

Event Recap

Talk of 鈥渦topia鈥 often prompts a knowing wink and nod from seasoned consumers of culture: utopia, in life or fiction, is always either a convenient cover for, or a direct precursor to, dystopia. However, Christian Henkel, a fall visiting scholar at the Boisi Center and director of聽the Institute for Ecumenical and Interreligious Research at the University of T眉bingen in Germany, takes a slightly different view. For Henkel, utopian thinking is already all around us. It is embedded in the digital devices and social media that govern our lives. Henkel calls this 鈥淯topia on the Small Screen,鈥 and in his September 20th, 2018 lunch colloquium at the Boisi Center, he argued that perhaps utopia needs to be reconsidered. A reimagined understanding of utopia is one way, Henkel suggested, to reframe political theology and social justice.

Henkel prefaced that utopias are likely to be irrelevant or even dangerous if not reimagined: irrelevant, like Thomas More鈥檚 fictional utopia on a distant, make-believe island, as they have no way of actually existing; dangerous, as they can foster autocratic ideas. Utopias can be easily dominated by singular figures and harmful ideologies. As an example, Henkel referenced the many failed utopian communities that dot America鈥檚 past. Henkel鈥檚 main argument, however, was that the utopian ideals that many of these American communities strived towards, particularly ideals of everyday living, have already been increasingly accomplished, almost without notice, by technology. Citing Saul Alinsky, Ruth Cohen, and Cornel West, Henkel pushed instead for a new, integrative, and interpersonal use of our digital resources. In Henkel鈥檚 view, if put to good use, digitization can aid in community organizing, help with religious education, and foster real human relationships. Heeding the warnings of failed utopias and the real limits, problems, and dangers of technology, we can reimagine these digital utopias in ways that better our use of them. A workable utopia cannot forget about the world鈥檚 injustices, and cannot be blind to its own shortcomings. In the end, Henkel鈥檚 argument relied on a 鈥渄igital鈥 version of Christian hope: utopia is possible, but only if we go about it in a responsible, ethical, and just way.

Read More

Books

Fry, Hannah.聽Hello World, How to be Human in the Age of the Machine. New York: Doubleday, 2018.

Howard P. Segal, "The Technological Utopians." In聽Imagining Tomorrow: History,Technology and the American Future.聽Edited by聽Joseph J. Corn.聽Cambridge: MIT Press, 1986.

Powers, William.聽Hamlet鈥檚 Blackberry: Building a Good Life in the Digital Age. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2011.

Articles

Anderson, Janna and Rainie, Lee. 鈥.鈥澛Pew Research Center, July 3, 2018.

Anderson, Janna and Rainie, Lee. 鈥.鈥澛Pew Research Center, April 17, 2018.

Roberts, Molly. 鈥.鈥澛The Washington Post, August 23, 2018.

Suellentrop, Chris. 鈥.鈥澛The New York Times, February 17, 2006.

Other

, a TED talk on algorithms, the Internet, and culture by writer and artist James Bridle.

In the News

础听聽reflects on the way we use technology and the need to step back and maintain perspective on its role in our lives. Sparked by several movements encouraging individuals to take 鈥渄igital Sabbaths,鈥 the article offers reasons why we ought to monitor technology use, as well as practical ways to take time to 鈥渞eset鈥.