30/06/2026 14:30
- 17:30
HALL: Pola - A204
Contact:
Poward T.
Chair:
Orrego-Torres E.
This panel seeks to bring together mystical theology and political theory to explore how a political mysticism can provide a much needed alternative vision of world politics. Mysticism can be understood as an aspect of theology and spirituality that focuses on devotional practices that attempt to enact some form of union with the divine. In this interpretation, mysticism can arguably be discerned across the world's theological traditions, with these variegated practices often inspiring quite un-traditional explorations of spirituality outside, and often against, any institutionalised faith.
Mysticism has influenced a full spectrum of political engagement—from anarchists who argue that union with the divine translates to opposition to worldly power structures to more institutional interpretations that emphasise the social cohesion brought about through ritualised devotion to the divine. This range of ethical and political applications lends mystical theology to various conversations currently underway in political theory, from post-anarchism to relational ontologies to pluriversality, leading it to emerge as a point of interest for thinkers ranging from Simone Weil to Jacques Derrida to Simon Critchley. This panel welcomes work that explores how to unite these conversations in a spectrum of critique and resistance that can speak both to rooted traditions and radical thinkers. To this end, the panel seeks to build a dialogue that can address pressing issues facing our planet, from the environmental crisis, to rising political violence, to narratives about the 'end of the world'. In each case mystical theology offers ways of thinking together across disciplines and traditions in ways that hold the potential for pathways forward.
