Unified We Are a Force

Joerg Rieger, Rosemarie Henkel-Rieger

Description

The American dream of "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" is no longer possible, if it ever was. Most of us live paycheck-to-paycheck, and inequality has become one of the greatest problems facing our country. Working people and people of faith have the power to change this-but only when we get unified!In this practical and theological handbook for justice, renowned theologian Joerg Rieger and his wife, community and labor activist Rosemarie Henkel-Rieger, help the working majority (the 99% of us) understand what is happening and how we can make a difference. Discover how our faith is deeply connected with our work. Find out how to organize people and build power and what our different faith traditions can contribute. Learn from case studies where these principles have been used successfully-and how we can use them. Develop "deep solidarity" as a way to forge unity while employing our differences for the common good.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Movimiento sindical
• Industrial relations
• Labour economics
• Trade union
• Labour

Informations

• Publié par: Chalice Press
• Date de parution: 10 mai 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780827238602
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

UNIFIED

WE ARE A

FORCE

“The book of James (verse 5:4) says that the wages we fail to pay our workers cry out against us, and the cries of the workers reach the ears of the Lord Almighty. This book is an invitation for us to listen, with God, to the cries of those who labor.” — Shane Claiborne, Author ofThe Irresistible Revolution

“In the past, the labor movement has successfully fought for the 40hour work week, weekends off work, the end of child labor, benefits, and protections for women and minorities. Today, we are once again reclaiming the insight that work and labor are important not only for individuals but for the wellbeing of our communities. This is what brings communities of labor and communities of faith together, as the authors of this book demonstrate. All can benefit from this emerging solidarity.” — John Patrick, President, Texas AFLCIO, and Rick Levy, SecretaryTreasurer, Texas AFLCIO

“InUnified We Are a Force, Joerg Rieger and Rosemarie Henkel Rieger craft a crisp exploration of Americans’ value for work and workers and dare to bring Jesus into the conversation. It is easy to push conversations on labor rights, wages, and workers to the margins; calling such talk ‘liberal,’ ‘extreme,’ or, worse, ‘communist.’ But that is a grave mistake. Jesus cares about work, wages, and workers’ freedom from exploitation. This book shows us exactly why. What’s more, these authors illuminate the call and power of deep solidarity—the kind of unity that echoes Jesus’ declaration: ‘When you did these things to the least of these, you did it to me.’ Read this book.” — Lisa Sharon Harper, Chief Church Engagement Officer, Sojourners

“Fifty years ago Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said America needed an economic stimulus plan with a bottomup approach, not a bankerdown approach. Together, we must form a grand alliance. Together, we must merge all people of goodwill. We believe labor rights and civil rights are one and the same, and you can’t have one without the other. This approach must unite the issues of race and class, workers’ rights and voting rights. We are all trade unionists now. We are all civil rights activists now. As it says in Isaiah 10, ‘Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights.’ We can win against extremism if we get unified!Unified We Are a Forceis the handbook for all of us who work and are people of faith or goodwill, who believe in a moral universe, to join hands and march together.” — Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, Author ofForward Together

“Unified We Are a Forcea striking challenge to build an is alternative future. Constructed from a powerful reflection on twenty years of social struggles, Joerg and Rosemarie Rieger offer an unparalleled critique to the naturalization of inequality in general and understandings of labor and wealth production in particular. They urge religious communities to go beyond simplistic ideologies or parochial positionalities to create networks of true deep solidarities. This groundbreaking book is a must read for anyone interested in constructive theologies, interreligious conversations, sociology of grassroots movements, labor studies, and globalization, religion and politics.” — Santiago Slabodsky, Florence and Robert Kaufman Chair in Jewish Studies, Hofstra University

“Joerg and Rosemarie Rieger do a masterful job in laying out religious and labor history and philosophy along with the current state of affairs as our society continues to struggle with basic questions of justice, dignity, and respect for workers. Their clear understanding of the intimate intersection between faith and labor provokes thought and emotion as they offer a compelling call to action. The book leaves the reader not only well informed and motivated but actively probing their own faith and values for alignment with the political reality in front of them while searching for the divine light in each of us.” — Rudy López, Executive Director, Interfaith Worker Justice

“I have learned a lot from Joerg Rieger. He is on the cutting edge of how to mix good theology with activism. I was impressed that he shared such similar perspectives with social movements organizing in the grassroots—except Joerg Rieger gives it a new language and perspective as a great theologian. I might call him the movement theologian. I am excited to see him work with his partner to produce writing for movement and activism. I think the labor movement, and the fight for $15 minimum wage, could learn so much from this perspective. Sometimes we need to see our movements in dialogue with theologians to have new language and new eyes.” —

Paul Engler, Cofounder, Center for the Working Poor and Author ofThis Is an Uprising

“Drawing on both ancient wisdom from faith traditions and the authors’ own experiences forging solidarity among faith, labor, and community groups in Dallas,United We Are a Forceoffers a vision for the ways labor and religion can radicalize each other and transform our outofbalance economy. This is an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to build coalition in the struggle for economic justice.” — Sarita Gupta, Executive Director, Jobs with Justice

“Whether in faith communities or worker centers, this book is necessary! Joerg and Rosemarie Rieger articulate the relationship between labor and faith at the heart of all human living. Simply, working people are the vast majority of the 99%, not the 1%. Calling upon ancient notions of justice, faith communities and labor organizations have much to offer in our similarities and differences working in deep solidarity to positively change the growing inequality gap in the U.S.” — Joan M. Martin, The William W. Rankin Associate Professor of Christian Social Ethics, Episcopal Divinity School

“Dr. Rieger and Ms. HenkelRieger’s call to reclaim the value of work is good news for the poor. As this book makes clear, it is also critically important for all of us and for the health of our society and our world. If you want to understand how to take this truth seriously and integrate the value of work and of workers into our personal and common life, this book offers a comprehensive set of prescriptions and proscriptions. Read it!” — Alexia Salvatierra, Coauthor ofFaithRooted Organizing

“This is a most timely work on the unequal relationship between employers and the employed, the owners of capital and the working classes and the poor. In a world where policy decisions, corporate conduct, and business practices increasingly reduce the bargaining power and quality of life of working people, the pertinence of what is termed ‘deep solidarity’—advocacy, activism and generosity—between all workers and people of conscience against a system that enriches a miniscule elite cannot be overstated.Unified We Are a Force provides an excellent exposition on the inequality inherent in the current economic environment, particularly in respect of labor. The authors furnish an extremely persuasive argument on how religion is—and not invariably—complicit in economic injustice. Joerg Rieger and Rosemarie HenkelRieger elegantly highlight the urgent need to reclaim the prophetic strands of our religious traditions to enrich the struggle for economic justice—and in the process we become more human. By examining how power, privilege, injustice, and unequal treatment against labor operate at the intersections of race, gender, ethnicity, and citizenship, among other things, the authors sketch out an image of God as the companion of the powerless and not the protector of powerful elites.” — Farid Esack, President of the International Qur'anic Studies Association, and Department of Religion Studies chair at the University of Johannesburg

UNIFIED WE ARE A FORCE

HOW FAITH AND LABOR CAN OVERCOME AMERICA’S INEQUALITIES

Joerg rieger and rosemarie Henkel-rieger

Copyright ©2016 by Joerg Rieger and Rosemarie HenkelRieger All rights reserved. For permission to reuse content, please contact Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 7508400, www.copyright.com.

Bible quotations, unless otherwise marked, are from theNew Revised Standard Version Bible,copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Cover design: Jesse Turri

ChalicePress.com

Print: 9780827238589 EPUB: 9780827238596 EPDF: 9780827238602

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Names: Rieger, Joerg, author. | HenkelRieger, Rosemarie, author. Title: Unified we are a force : How faith and labor can overcome America’s inequalities / by Joerg Rieger and Rosemarie HenkelRieger. Description: St. Louis, Missouri : Chalice Press, [2016] | Includes  bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016008872 (print) | LCCN 2016012683 (ebook) | ISBN  9780827238589 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780827238596 (epub) | ISBN  9780827238602 (epdf) Subjects: LCSH: Solidarity—Religious aspects—Christianity. |  Work—Religious aspects—Christianity. | Labor—Religious  aspects—Christianity. Classification: LCC BT738.45 .R54 2016 (print) | LCC BT738.45 (ebook) | DDC  261.8/5dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016008872

Printed in the USA by Linemark Printing, Inc., part of the (Washington) DC Local chapter DC72C.

Contents

Preface Acknowledgments Introduction  Why Are You Here?  Special Interest?  The Material and Spiritual Are Connected Chapter 1: Basic Issues  Work and Labor: Why Should Anybody Care?  Nothing Matters More  Work, Labor, and Transformation  The Limits of Work and Labor  Freedom is Not Free and Organizing is  Not Optional  Ancient Wisdom at Work Chapter 2: Work under Attack: Dire Consequences  No Natural Catastrophe  The Law  Wage Theft as Symptom  Wage Depression: The Next Step  Consequences Chapter 3: From Advocacy to Deep Solidarity: Activism Reborn  Divide and Conquer  Advocacy and Solidarity  Deep Solidarity  Ancient Stories of Deep Solidarity  The Resilience of Deep Solidarity  Valuing Diversity and Putting it to Use

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