The Society of Jesus, commonly known as the Jesuits, is the most successful and enduring global missionary enterprise in history. Founded by Ignatius Loyola in 1540, the Jesuit order has preached the Gospel, managed a vast educational network, and shaped the Catholic Church, society, and politics in all corners of the earth. Rather than offering a global history of the Jesuits or a linear narrative of globalization, Thomas Banchoff and Jose Casanova have assembled a multidisciplinary group of leading experts to explore what we can learn from the historical and contemporary experience of the Society of Jesus-what do the Jesuits tell us about globalization and what can globalization tell us about the Jesuits? Contributors include comparative theologian Francis X. Clooney, SJ, historian John W. O''Malley, SJ, Brazilian theologian Maria Clara Lucchetti Bingemer, and ethicist David Hollenbach, SJ. They focus on three critical themes-global mission, education, and justice-to examine the historical legacies and contemporary challenges. Their insights contribute to a more critical and reflexive understanding of both the Jesuits' history and of our contemporary human global condition.
Industry Reviews
This superb collection of essays is strongly recommended to anyone interested in the history and distinctive identity of the Society of Jesus evolving out of Renaissance humanism. It also provides a timely caution for anyone interested in globalisation, especially in light of what Pankaj Mishra has recently called the 'Globalization of Rage'. Nationalist populism evokes the initial quandary of negotiating self-identity stated in this collection's introduction. * The Way *
Multi-themed yet coherent and articulate. * Journal of World History *
This volume of essays could not be more timely for a political moment. . . . An impressively researched catalogue . . . [that] succeeds best as a compelling defense of this new, radical (if historically rooted) Jesuit leadership in global engagement. * Catholic Historical Review *
An ambitious project which has considerable success in the quality of the articles in contains, and the arguments it sustains. * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *
In this erudite collection, the authors claim that the Jesuits more than anyone contributed to global connectivity and became cultural and political players across the world. * Independent Catholic News *