Globalization and Plural Theologies Challenges to a Shared Vision of Humanity

Abstract

Since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the trajectory of liberal democracy has been toward a shared vision of humanity, based on respect for individual dignity and human rights. The past thirty years of globalization have oscillated between greater uniformity and now, in the past decade, toward a breakdown of the consensus of a shared vision. This article explores the historical development of globalization and then focuses on three phases that have defi ned global developments in the past thirty years, including growing inequality and the response to associated dilemmas with nationalism and populism. Addressing this current challenge theologically requires a closer look at the relationships between the global and the local. One way forward in this matter from a theological perspective can be found in the discourses of catholicity that have been part of the Church’s tradition.