Caring for Souls in a Neoliberal Age

264 Pages·2016·2.38 MB·English

by  Bruce Rogers-Vaughn (auth.)

New Approaches to Religion and Power
CARING FOR SOULS
IN A NEOLIBERAL AGE
Bruce Rogers-Vaughn
New Approaches to Religion and Power
Series Editor
Joerg Rieger
Vanderbilt University Divinity School
Heidelberg
Baden-Württemberg
Germany
Aims of the Series
While the relationship of religion and power is a perennial topic, it only
continues to grow in importance and scope in our increasingly globalized
and diverse world. Religion, on a global scale, has openly joined power
struggles, often in support of the powers that be. But at the same time,
religion has made major contributions to resistance movements. In this
context, current methods in the study of religion and theology have cre-
ated a deeper awareness of the issue of power: Critical theory, cultural
studies, postcolonial theory, subaltern studies, feminist theory, critical
race theory, and working class studies are contributing to a new quality
of study in the fi eld. This series is a place for both studies of particular
problems in the relation of religion and power as well as for more general
interpretations of this relation. It undergirds the growing recognition that
religion can no longer be studied without the study of power.
More information about this series at
http://www.springer.com/series/14754
Bruce   R ogers-Vaughn
Caring for Souls
in a Neoliberal Age
Bruce   Rogers-Vaughn
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
New Approaches to Religion and Power
ISBN 978-1-137-55338-6 ISBN 978-1-137-55339-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-55339-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016956960
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2 016
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To my wife, Annette, with gratitude and love
And in loving memory for my son
Taylor Vaughn
1986–1995
And my mother
Doris Louise Vaughn
1933–2014
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
(Matthew 6:12)
A
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
As most authors are aware, books do not appear without a great deal of
inspiration from and collaboration with others. I am particularly grateful
to three professional associations of psychotherapists for opportunities to
share my developing ideas concerning the social and political origins of
the sufferings to which we collectively bear witness. The Southeast Region
of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors and the Tennessee
Association of Pastoral Therapists both graciously allowed me to speak to
this issue during their annual conferences. I was also invited to offer a day-
long workshop on this subject during the spring of 2015, hosted by the
Nashville Psychotherapy Institute. The encouragement and lively dialogue
I enjoyed during these meetings have been critical in the effort to keep my
theorizing grounded in the distresses experienced by actual human beings
and in the challenges faced by those who must listen and respond to them.
Along similar lines, I wish to thank my clinical associates at the Pastoral
Center for Healing in Nashville, Tennessee—Tom Knowles-Bagwell, Rod
Kochtitzky, Annette Rogers-Vaughn, Gay Welch, and Elizabeth Zagatta-
Allison. It has been a pleasure to know them as both friends and col-
leagues, and their support and ongoing companionship have contributed
immeasurably to this project.
I have lived and worked not only in clinical settings, but in academic
ones as well. Here, I must especially recognize my colleagues in the
Society for Pastoral Theology (SPT). During June of 2014, I was honored
to deliver a “work in progress” address to the full body of the society.
Without the energetic feedback that followed, this book might not ever
have matured to see the light of day. Several members of SPT have been
ix
x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
regular conversation partners or have played pivotal roles in stimulating
this work. These include Nancy J. Ramsay, Barbara J. McClure, Ryan
LaMothe, Philip Browning Helsel, and Denise Dombkowski Hopkins. In
parallel to my everyday associates in clinical work, I enjoy the company
of esteemed scholars at Vanderbilt Divinity School, where I have been
teaching for many years. My peers in the area of Religion, Psychology
and Culture—Bonnie Miller-McLemore, Evon Flesberg, Jaco Hamman,
Phillis Isabella Sheppard, and Volney P. Gay—have been a dependable
source of encouragement and wise counsel. I am immensely indebted also
to my students, especially those who enrolled in the course “Pastoral Care
and Global Capitalism.” These individuals were patient with me as I rolled
out partially formed ideas, and were keen to point out elements that were
either missing or not yet quite digestible. One of these students, Aaron
Palmer, helpfully tracked down several much-needed references early in the
project. Another former student, Morgan Watts, provided indispensable
assistance proofi ng the manuscript and preparing it for fi nal submission.
My deep appreciation goes out to Joerg Rieger, the series editor for
the collection in which this volume appears, for inviting me to submit a
proposal and for his valuable advice and stimulating conversations along
the way. My thanks also to all the dedicated staff members at Palgrave
Macmillan for their help in bringing this task to completion, especially to
my editor, Phil Getz, and his assistant, Alexis Nelson, whose correspon-
dences were always timely and benefi cial.
Many of the souls whose presence accompanied me through every page
of this book literally cannot be named. They are the many individuals
who sought me out for a psychotherapy relationship over the past three
decades. Working with them has enriched my life beyond measure and,
I believe, has made me wiser than I could have otherwise become. I can
only hope I have represented their struggles accurately and fairly.
Finally, I thank my family—Annette Rogers-Vaughn, Mackenzie
Vaughn, and the twins, Blake and Huntley Rogers-Vaughn. Unfortunately,
writing this book has often demanded too much sacrifi ce from them all.
The currently eight-year-old twins’ recurring inquiry—“Are you done
with the book yet?”—has been one of the primary motivations to actually
fi nish. Thanks largely to passing the days with these four precious souls, I
know at least as much about joy as I do suffering.
C
ONTENTS
1 Introduction: Preface to a Post-Capitalist Pastoral
Theology 1
2 Neoliberalism, Inequality, and the Erosion of Social
Well-being 35
3 Going Viral: The Neoliberal Infi ltration of the Living
Human Web 67
4 Neoliberalism as a Paradigm for Human Affl iction:
Third-Order Suffering as the New Normal 109
5 Muting and Mutating Suffering: Sexism, Racism,
and Class Struggle 1 31
6 Beyond Self-Management: Re-Membering Soul 1 67
7 Concluding Theological Postscripts 2 09
Index 243
xi