Motherhood as Metaphor: Engendering Interreligious Dialogue

3 Encounter in Global Feminist Movements

Chapter 3 investigates the secular women’s movement as a global phenomenon. Moving out from the feminists and female experts who spoke at the 1893 Parliament of the World’s Religions, this case study moves through the three waves of feminism to indicate the intertwining of the sacred and the secular in women’s trans-religious encounters. In all three waves, the women’s movement supports theologies that insist on everyday practices as sites for encountering the divine. The political dimension of religious practices are illuminated, as special attention is given to the emergence of feminist theology as an interreligious practice, seeking justice, solidarity, and the flourishing of creation.