Affliction and the Option for the Poor: Simone Weil and Latin American Liberation Theology

Publication Type

Book Chapter

Year of Publication

2010

Author

Bingemer, Maria Clara L.

Editor

Rozelle-Stone, Rebecca Stone, Lucian

Book

The Relevance of the Radical: Simone Weil 100 Years Later

Pages

240-255

Publisher

Continuum

Place Published

New York

Language

English

Translator

Lueck, Bryan

Chapter

15

Keywords

affliction (malheur)
equality
ethics
Marx, Karl
Marxism
suffering
war

Annotation

Bingemer compares Weil’s life and thought to the ‘proposals of Liberation Theology’. In particular, she examines Weil’s response to ‘the poor’, poverty itself, and question of justice. Included in her discussion are Weil’s labor in the factory and the vineyard, her relationship to workers and worker’s organization, her view of Marxism, her understanding of Christianity as a religion of the poor and enslaved and finally, Weil’s understanding of and response to suffering in the development of her concept of affliction.