Longing for Running Water: Ecofeminism and Liberation (Biblical Reflections on Ministry) [Paperback]

Ivone Gebara (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 3, 1999

Gebara's succinct yet moving statements of the principles of ecofeminism shows how intertwined are the tarnished environment around her and the poverty that afflicts her neighbors. From her experiences with the Brazilian poor women's movement she develops a gritty urban ecofeminism and indeed articulates a whole worldview. She shows how the connections between Western thought, patriarchal Christianity, and environmental destruction necessitate personal conversion to "a new relationship with the earth and with the entire cosmos."

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"Ivone Gebara is unquestionably the most original theologian working from an ecofeminist liberation perspective from Latin America today. Her theology does not begin with absolutes from on high, but with daily life among poor women of Latin America from whose context the interconnected dominations of race, class, gender and the earth are not a theory but a concrete reality. It is from this context that Gebara reflects on the themes of theology, on epistemology, the nature of the human person, God, Jesus and redemptive hope" ---Rosemary Radford Ruether

About the Author

Ivone Gebara, a Brazilian Sister of Notre Dame, is one of Latin America's leading women theologians. She holds doctorates in philosophy and religious studies and has taught for many years at the Theology Institute of Recife (ITER).

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Product Details

• Paperback: 244 pages
• Publisher: Fortress Press (January 3, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0800631838
• ISBN-13: 978-0800631833
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #754,714 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Theological upheaval, July 4, 2008

By 

The Old Professor (Vermont) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Longing for Running Water: Ecofeminism and Liberation (Biblical Reflections on Ministry) (Paperback)

I read Longing for Running Water by Gebara several years ago. This book threatens some individuals and inspires others. A good friend, a Benedictine monk, described it as devoid of any Christology; yet, another friend overhearing this, a woman, commented, "Since when do you know anything about a woman's point of view on Christ?" To me, as a lifelong Catholic and a theology student, Gebara upset the apple cart of my naive, male-centered beliefs. Her emphasis on understanding "how we know what we know" (epistemology) and her introduction of these concepts to poor Brazilian women made me reexamine the experience of how I came to think what I thought I knew. If liberation theology called us to perceive the world from the underside of history, namely the poor, Gebara inspires us to understand the perspective of the underside of the underside, the poor women of the world, who are oppressed by the oppressed, the poor male, who can only kick down. Ivone Gebara may not be extensively read, undoubtedly because of Rome's silencing, but she deserves to be.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eco-feminist Liberation theology.... it provokes, May 10, 2011

By 

Rahab "cm" (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Longing for Running Water: Ecofeminism and Liberation (Biblical Reflections on Ministry) (Paperback)

Recently I had the opportunity to meet Ivone Gebara and discuss dimensions of this book with her in an ethics classroom setting. Gebara distinguishes herself from other well known eco-feminists like Sallie McFague in her liberationist perspective on eco-feminist theology. Eco-feminist theology is a range (often described as shades of green) of positions and as a Catholic Gebara firmly holds to a trinitarian doctrine of God unlike some eco-feminist positions. The format of this book in one of the later chapters (5?) addresses typical objections to eco-feminist positions (like accusations of pantheism). Readers who feel particularly challenged by eco-feminist perspectives may want to read this chapter first before reading the earlier sections.

The joy of Gebara's book lives in her solidarity with her neighborhood and her deep connection to the soil that neighborhood occupies. She begins most of her reflections (even if not stated explicitly in the text) with concrete situations from her neighborhood and reflects theologically toward creative responses to various situations (like frequency of trash removal). Eco-feminism will challenge male-dominated, human centered theological perspectives. Gebara's liberationist reading will further challenge these androcentric and economically privileged opinions about God and creation.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Critical Voice, December 5, 2007

By 

GriffOnline "Griffonline" (Hanover, NH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Longing for Running Water: Ecofeminism and Liberation (Biblical Reflections on Ministry) (Paperback)

Brilliant marriage of eco-feminism and liberation theology, from one of Latin America's greatest theologians. A must-read for any serious student of theology, or lay person with an interest in these critical issues.