An Introduction to Catholic Social Thought Book

List of tables and figure     viii
Acknowledgements     ix
List of abbreviations and acronyms     xii
Social Reality and Social Analysis     1
Introduction     3
Justice-seeking in a changing world     3
Catholic approaches     10
Social needs and injustices     13
Structural injustices     13
Action responses     16
Summary     18
Capitalism in a global context     20
The social context     20
Globalization     22
Liberal capitalism     24
Power     29
Secular pluralism     33
Global interdependence     35
Theological Resources     41
The kingdom of God     43
Setting out     43
Jesus' proclamation of the kingdom     44
Political theology     48
Justice in the kingdom of God     53
Secular approaches to justice     58
Concluding reflections     60
Christian citizenship     62
Citizenship     62
Participation     64
Freedom     68
Equality     75
Solidarity     81
Conclusions     83
Catholic social thought     85
Introduction     85
On natural law     87
Historical development of official teaching     91
Key concepts in Catholic social thought     104
Evaluation     107
Theological resources: concluding reflections     112
Justice Issues     115
Human rights     117
Rights and reality     117
The emergence of human rights discourse     118
The right to life and the death penalty     121
The right to legal justice     123
The right to migrate     130
The rights of the weak: racism, sexism and ageism     138
Human rights in Catholic social thought     145
The family     147
The changing context     147
The contemporary family     149
Catholic teaching on the family     150
Gender differentiation     160
Bioethical challenges     163
Concluding reflections     174
Economic life     177
The salience of economic issues     177
Variations in economic systems      181
Developments in Catholic thought     183
Major themes and evaluation     203
Economic justice for all     205
Social exclusion     208
A multidimensional concept     208
Social inequalities in Britain     209
Social exclusion and social analysis     219
Catholic approaches to inequality     223
Contributions from other Christians     235
Towards a Christian response      238
Authentic development     241
International inequalities and injustices     241
Environmental sustainability     246
A critique of liberal capitalism     252
Catholic responses     259
Other Christian responses     279
From amelioration to advocacy     280
War and peace     282
The ubiquity of conflict     282
War, strategy and legitimacy     284
Catholic approaches to war and peace     288
Pacifism and non-violence     301
The just war tradition     304
Organized violence in a global era     306
The arms trade     312
Towards a culture of peace     315
Action Responses     319
Catholic responses to injustices     321
The global social context     321
Scriptural and theological resources     323
Domestic and global interconnectedness     326
A justice and peace network     329
A call to action     336
Selected campaigning organizations     343
References     346
Index     364