a theology of the urban space

8/19/2019 A Theology of the Urban Space

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Theology of the Urban Space

NÉSTOR O. MÍGUEZ*

This article discusses the development of

theology of the urban

space from a Latin Am erican point of view without ignoring the

global implications of the present expansion of urban life. It shows

how the reality of urban life has affected our way of doing theol-

ogy especially through notions of developmen t planning and

progress. The article proposes a change of paradigm through a

theology of dialogue among human beings with God. and with the

whole of creation. It lso shows the effects of corruption not only

as an occasional occurrence but at the very heart of the economic

system that today upholds the present way of urbanization and

global market econom y. F inally it advocates for an ethics of antic-

ipation beginning to act in a toay that creates alternatives that

might imply a greater respect of our fellow hum an beings of cre-

ation

and.

of the presence of God.

First of all, I want to say thank you for the opportunity given to

me by this invitation to share this conference with you through these

days. Even if it was not the original intention, it resulted in our being

here at what might become a meaningful moment in the world his-

tory: the first days of the presidency of Barack Obama, with all the

novelty, expectation, and opportunities opened by this event. Unpre-

dicted things occur in human history and this might be a chance for

this to happen. Things change in history, sometimes through in-

tended human actions, other times because of sudden human deci-

sions, and other times in spite of them. What and how much of tlie


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awaited and needed change will really happen is yet to be seen. Un-

planned things surge in human reality, sometimes opening new

hopes, sometimes frustrating them. And the decisions made in the

coming days will tell us which of these two will take place, or, more

probably, how both hopes and frustration will intertwine in expected

and u nexpected ways.

It is also at least a coincidenc e th at we m ee t on Wall Street, at th e

locus

of the financial crisis that is shocking th e wo rld, putti ng on stage

a dramatically m isshapen w orld economy u nd er th e doctrines of neo-

Hberalism, m onetarism , and financial speculation, a nd the impositions

of the global and total free market. Those who prophesied the end of

ideologies, only to enth ron e their own as the only valid discourse, find

the ideological farce of the ir speec h slapping back in the ir own faces.

Th e pre ach ed only way tu rne d out to be a way to growing injustice,

leading to disaster, exposed to fraud, and driving millions of people

into the abyss of uncertainty, poverty, and helplessn ess. M any of us

were clear about what was happening, but it was difficult to row

against the stream . Bu t now the system has overtly shown its dem ises,

and, as always, the p rice is to be paid by the wo rkers, the p oor and des-

titute, the same ones who have no part in or benefit from the prevail-

ing order.

As we meet today in our conference, these things should not be

kept out of our m inds and conversations. They offer also

way of en try

to what is one of my argum ents in this discussion, and th at is th e ten -

sion between planning, dialogue, and the unexpected, the historical

surprise. In a sense, as I will pro pos e in the dev elop m ent of this con-

versation, it is the n ee d to recover th e eschatological dimen sion, even

tlie apocalyptic thrust of the Christian faith, of the already-but-not-

yet, of a coming that is already here, of the eruption of the transcen-

dence th at is yet imm anent, a nucleus of the confidence that nur tures

the life of the p eop le or ient ed by the messianic dynamics of Jesus.

From Planning to Dialogue

Som e theologies have read in Scripture plan of salvation as pre-


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A T H E O L O G Y O F T H E U R B A N S PA C E 5 61

has bee n influenced by the notion of planne d de velopm ent. In ancient

unde rstanding, developm ent was a matter of putting into action what

was already potential. Th e tree

is

in the seed, the m an

is

in th e child; de -

velopment was the acting out of what was already in the ontological

script of the ma tter, the i nte nd ed goal of th e thing. It is tru e tha t som e

philosophers proposed a diagram of the ideal human life, but it was

m ore a description of th e m atter than a way to achieve it. But the E n-

lightenment and modernity brought about another concept: The ad-

vance of

plan was not inscribed in the thing, in the origin, but in th e

idea of hum ans; th e fulfillment of th e will was not so muc h a matt er of

the expression in action of what

w s

poten tial. Rather, it

w s

a matter of

hum an (or divine) activity that, in a sense, create d the possibihties of

one thing to beco m e an other throug h th e action of an agent. And these

achievements were to be implemented through certain stages, inten-

tional actions, and successive steps. This possibihty is not an act of na-

tur e, bu t th e expression of hu m an capacity to investigate and foresee, to

imag ine and transform, to desire and do.

Whether through a Hegehan realization of the Absolute Spirit, a

positivistic approach to the unending conquest of science, or the

Marxist idea of a class struggle tha t will lead to th e classless society of

perennial welfare for all, different philosophical systems clung to this

idea of a stage-by-stage way up of

hum anity.

The different theories of

evolution also drink from th e sam e waters. We can see in all of these a

certain more traditional interpretation. In that sense, Hegel is still at-

tached to the idea of

dialectical unfolding of the outcome concealed

in the essential origin. But we also see a new approach: reaching the

goal through human agency.

The capitalistic end of history sees in neo hbe ral econom ics the

chmax of individualistic happ iness, with th e invisible han d of the ma r-

ket taking care of all contradiction, solving unexpected conflicts and,

through competition and technology, endlessly increasing riches, es-

tabhshing a paradigm of human nature in which greed and specula-

tion bring about perennial happiness. And yet, though they claim that

this is in human nature, it requires some very unnatural conduct for

this economic system to continue—for example, die accumulation of


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some conservative theologies, like dispensaüonalism, are based in the

idea of a Cod who provides a series of increasing dispensations,

though in this case it ends with the annihilation of history and any

meaning of history in

itself

Liberal theologies of the late nineteenth

and early twentieth centuries sought the ethical progress of hu-

mankind, in a western pattern of increasing moral response, but the

World Wars dismantled this project. The Hominization process de-

scribed by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin^ is not free from this scheme,

nor

s

what we call process theology. O ur own Latin Am erican liber-

ation theology fell in this ambush, at least in some of

ts

more radical

authors, seeing Cod using the poor as a messianic force that cer-

tainly—almost in a mec hanical way— through revolution, will con qu er

for humankind the reign of Cod.

Oppressed People Lord of History^

is the title of a book that shows how sloganish a progressive theology

can becom e. Surely, some of th e mo re subtle thinkers in this line pre -

vented us from a too optimistic approach, but the bulk of what

reached the ge neral public was far more optimistic—and we are now

paying the cost of such naivete.

Along th e sam e line, biblical scholars were able to dep ict a history

of salvation in Scripture, a plan that takes us one step to another in

Cod

s

redeeming

plan.

Th e idea of progressive revelation, thro ugh the

Old and New Testaments, from polytheistic religion to monotheistic

faith, from sacrificial religion to the love commandment, or the inter-

preta tion of the biblical schem e in a successive Trinitarian timely dis-

closure dominated certain trends of scriptural studies. Certainly

fundam entalism, the du m b child of positivism, was also influenced by

this idea, and its reading of Revelation and other apocalyptic texts,

now in a negative way, reflected a Cod w ho neglects hum an respo nse

and goes on delivering all kind of woes upon Cod's creatures, regard-

less of the ir suffering, in orde r to fulfill a script conceived beforehand.

Cood old Jonah would have been quite happy with this destructive

Deity, unable to change his mind and spare Nineveh.

Why should we take time to consider this particular point of

progress in the philosophies and theologies of the past century? One


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A T H E O L O G Y O F T H E U R B A N S P AC E 5 63

reason is that these ideas have been accompanying the process of ur-

banization of the world population. They are ideas born and bred in

and with the growing of city life, and, in many respects, are closely as-

sociated with the notion of civilization, that life in the dvitas in the

city, is a superior way of life. So, if city life grows, civilization is ad-

vancing. Human rights are enforced in the rights of the citizen, the

dweller of the city. A certain common sense has been created, in

the sense that life in the city is the true human life. City life is associ-

ated in that way with progress, with the advancement of science and

education, with a betterment of life conditions for most people. The

bourgeoisie, the inhabitants of the burgo have been considered the

m otor of historic chang e. The possibility of bourgeo is ideas to be com e

heg em onic is at the root of the ideologies of progre ss. That

is,

the ide-

ology of the class bo rn and d om inant in the m od em city

s

the guiding

paradigm underlying most cultural and ethical constructions, con-

cealed in the worldview even of those who oppose it. Certainly, there

is certain nostalgia about th e beatitu des of coun try life—nostalgia tha t

mostly exists in city dwellers, since many p eop le in the countrys ide, es-

pecially those at the bottom of the agrarian society, who do not enjoy

bucolic leisure but have to pu t up with hard an d oftentimes oppressive

work, increasingly look up to city life as a goal, as urban culture pene-

trates also the rural areas throu gh the expansion of mass media, th e au-

tomobile culture, and the shopping center, which propagate the

illusions of city-centered consumer society even in unsuspected rural

wilderness. So today to move out of the city does not entail getting

away from city culture . As a ma tter of fact, w e see m any m ore peasa nts

moving into the cities than melancholic upper middle class urban in-

habitants moving into the country, except for a brief vacation, or to

relax at night through a commuter culture. As a matter of fact, urban

residence continually increases; it already surpasses the rural popula-

tion globally and c ont inues to grow, especially in certain coun tries , like

Bolivia or Peru , tha t we re ru ral countries until fifteen years ago.

The economy of the city may have provided the pattern for this

understanding of history. From urban artisanship to industrial pro-

duction, and now to digital virtual finance capitalism, the city was able


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to maximize profits regardless of the co nseq uen ces beyo nd their im-

m ediate rea ch. With neoliberalism th e idea of state plann ing or th e in-

tervention of any force tha t could curtail private intere st be cam e a bad

idea. Yet they kept planning the ir own business and reHed on the o m -

niscient wisdom of the market to care for the rest. As is now evident

that did no t work. Also unsuccessful w as the Soviet coun terp art: strict

planning supposedly universal bu t once again plan ned from a state

that thought it could foresee the total needs of a society without the

need of the intervention of the concrete human groups and persons

that made up that society.

Postm odernism did at least bring a certain suspicion to this over-

arching scheme. Progress and planning were not as sure as they

seem ed. W hile it would b e foolish to deny that changes have occ urred

and in some sense for the bett erm en t of hum an life new foes and in-

equality have bee n broug ht u p. Th e gap betw een rich and poor

s

con-

stantly increasing reachin g now a level of unfairness un prec ed en ted

in econom ic history. Th e plan et

s

at risk due to the unc ontro lled waste

of resources and unpredicted consequences of certain developments

in the areas of technologies sanitary conditions use of energy and so

on. New imm oral war theories are formulated and corruption as I

will explain later is the leading att itud e in bus iness. Th e idea of linear

or even dialectical progress has to be submitted to falsification by

these and other facts. Progress in some fields has to be balanced with

decay and increasing injustice in others or with blindness to our own

human faUibility.

W ithout ignoring the n the various changes in hu m an situations

we should not look at the m as a one-way paved s treet to hap pines s not

even as a bum py way bu t as an ongoing effort to find out how to dea l

with things and modifications as they com e abo ut or we provoke the m .

There is a necessary dialogue that has to take into account new cir-

cum stances different ways of posing and solving pro blem s alterna -

tive ways of seeing things and res pon ding to the m not only from

human beings but by the whole created reality.


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salvation, but not the rigidity of given plan. As individuals and com-

munities engage in the exercise of their freedom, with their predicted

and unpredicted consequences, in their acts of selfishness and

solidarity, courage and cowardice, mistakes and violence, but also in

their love and h ope s, we go about changing ou r situations, living con-

ditions, and ways of conceiving our relationships with our neighbor,

na ture, and th e divinity.

God does not overlook this process, for God is tlie giver of that

freedom (and in a

way,

the preserver of it). It would b e a self-denial of

G od s love if God w ere to go ahead with G od s own plan, ignoring or

only judging human action, demanding always one and only one pos-

sible response to God s p resen ce. God s o mniscience is not about

knowing in advance what hum ans are abo ut to do, now and always, or

requesting th e correct answer to an ethical test. Instead, God s pe ren -

nial wisdom em brac es m ultiple ways of giving loving responses and re-

newing creative relationships amid the changing scenarios caused by

ou r activity, and tliat of th e whole of crea tion. So ther e is no sacred his-

tory in which Go d runs God s own plans in parallel to hum an even ts,

inserting he re an d the re a few stitches in the tissue of hum an dealings.

That is why it is necessary to think th at in the divine paradigm , the

whole task of planning must maintain a momentum of dialogue and

openness, with persons, peoples, and cultures (forms of family,

habi-

tus class issues and sectors, and so on), bu t also with th e built an d nat-

ural env ironm ent. God s action in history takes into accou nt hum an

planning and expectations, but also the unplanned events that pro-

duce unexpected results. Through history, God hears humans an-

swers, sees our activity, discerns our goals, and takes them seriously.

But not only that: through the prophets, through the visions of the

faith community, through unannounced happenings and promised

fulfillments, tlirough the action of the people or the claims of the

weak, G od also takes th e initiative, propo ses alternatives, invites new

involvemen t of hum an beings in our own salvation. That is the way of

grace, a grace that does not dep end on hum an agency, but ne ither dis-

allows human synergy.

Thus,

the different and often ambiguous and contradictory re-


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Humanity is not by any means single and unique. We are crisscrossed

by reahties of class, cultu re, gend er, and ways of hving. Thes e are not

neutral facts in this dialogue. Humanity is an abstraction, and human

responses to historical situations are built out of concreteness. And

God's action in this dialogue is also partisan. God's messianic pr ese nc e

is that of those bom in total modesty, of the pohtical refugee, of the

wandering artisan, of the popular leader, of the despised prophet, of

the crucified by the powers that be. God's concern in God's dialogue

with humanity is tied up with different historical situations, but also

with the luck of the weak. W hen w e think about th e built environm ent

as Ghristians, we cannot look at it without bringing into the picture

God's partisanship.

But, com ing to our own con cern in this confe rence, how does this

view affect our understanding of radical abundance, especially in the

built environm ent? It has to do with city planning: For w hom do they

plan? With what sense of pow er and with what perspective of hu m an

hfe does city planning occur? How does dialogue enter into the situa-

tion? How do different attitudes and circumstances in hfe affect the

vision of the planner? Any planner is in a power position, and that

means a class and culture location. Gity planners do not come from

the margins; they are not chosen am ong the un derprivileged dwellers

of the o utskirts of the city; they are n ot the poor. In m ost cases, gen de r

is also a factor, and patriarchal vision is not excluded even in women

planners.

My own personal experience, the only time I was involved in

some way in a housing project, was about twen ty years ago and

w s

not

a very happy o ne. W ith all good will and social con cern, a project was

agreed upon between an ecumenical social action group and the mu-

nicipal authorities in the city of M oren o, par t of the so-called third

collar of G rea ter Bue nos

Aires.

Th e houses were m ean t especially for

single-parent famihes hea ded by wo men , and all the inhabitants cam e

from wh at we would call lower class. I got involved as th e pasto r of

one of the churches that supported the project, and some of the

wom en who a ttende d our day care cente r bec am e active in it. It was a

neat project, and the women participated in different aspects of the


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that sprout when politicians are involved, the barrio was finally inau-

gurated (even if it was never totally finished). When compared to the

previous living conditions of those families, it was like heaven. I was

asked to go house by hous e to bless them , following th e ways of po pu-

lar religiosity. Wom en w ere shocked by the idea th at they w ere having

the ir own ho use. M any tears cam e to their eyes as they took possession

of the houses, that by our middle class standard we would consider

modest, but for them were deemed palaces.

Then, cultural issues that no one had considered appeared. For

example, these women, who had been living under very poor condi-

tions, w ere not used to paying for electricity or to contrib uting for the

m aintenance of the com mon wa ter well. Th e fact that now they had a

brick house had not bettered their economic or working conditions.

For some, transportation to their workplace became more expensive.

Some of them believed that we had lured them into a trap to get

money out of them (that was their experience with other institutions).

One of them went back into prostitution to pay her part, for she

wanted to meet the standards of the most affluent in the neighbor-

hood (I only came to know this a few months later, because of some

useful gossiping). Th ese things ero de d th e women s confidence in the

churches, and even in themselves, creating tensions between those

who we re able to pay and those who w ere not, or who refused to do so.

Some of them invited their casual partners to live in the houses,

and police and judicial matters cam e to the fore wh en som e ofth e me n

took possession o fth e houses w hen the relationsh ip was over: it is typ-

ical for m en to send the w om en away and no t the o the r way around. As

small children grew into teenagers, the problem of sexual harassm ent

and drug abuse be cam e urg ent. Following ancestral custom , some rel-

atives moved in, and some o fthe houses becam e so crowded tha t once

again one of the foes we thought we were to combat, promiscuity, be-

came a matter of concern. And I can enumerate a number of other

sources of conflict that appeared. At the end, the betterment of the

quality of life we had envisioned for those families, after some years,

had faded away. And the institutions that had sup po rted th e pro ject

withdrew little by little, unable to cope with the new prob lem s. Even


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Ev en thou gh I tried to keep som e form of relationship with som e of tlie

wom en, little by little facts in life mad e tha t m ore difficult. The last on e

I saw had re nte d (obviously, unlawfully) he r house in orde r to get som e

extra money, and m oved back into a slum. I m ust say, the ch urch , in this

case,

did not stand u p to its vocation, and finally left the neigh borh ood

unattended. I have learned recently that a Pentecostal group has

moved in, and some Cathohc nuns of a very conservative order have

open ed a kindergarten in a nearby place, to attend to tlie children of

working mothers.

Yet, through another organization, was formed by the Madres de

Plaza d e Mayo, ̂ new experience s of social housing have taken place ,

taking into account and trying to overcome the circumstances that

caused the failure of the previous ones. (Unfortunately, ours was not

the only failure: block building for poor famihes by governmental

agencies proved equally unsafe.) To our sh am e, the c hurc hes have not

become involved in these new projects, though some of us support

them through other civil organizations.

Why was it that our project failed? What were some of the

facts that we had not taken seriously? Or was it that our dialogue

was not profound enough? It might be, but I will also point to our

shortcomings:

• Some cultural habitus are hidden even, and especially, for

those w ho live in th em . It w as totally natu ral an d cu lturally ex-

pe cte d that if som eone has a house, relatives will move in: it is

pa rt of family solidarity em be dd ed in pop ular cu lture . Yet, as

middle-class planners we were unaware of it in planning

houses and the use of space (even though we knew it), and for

the m it was so usual that it wen t w ithout saying. So finally, no

provision was made for that.

• The educa tional process failed. W e certainly had preh m inary

meetings, in which things were discussed and rules were

spelled out and agreed upon, but many of these women had

learned to stay alive beyond and against the rules. It was

thought that changing their living conditions would help


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them to incorporate new habits, but centuries of survival cul-

ture were more powerful than a couple of years of monthly

meetings.

• The system had not chang ed, and oppressive conditions

championed over our good will. Abusive conditions and the

consequences of poverty could not be done away with

through planning a friendlier barrio We had overlooked the

fears and prejudices, the cultural mistrust, the aggressiveness

and loss of dignity created by centuries of exploitation, by

the political system based on a patron-client scheme, by the

framework of violence in which these people were brought

up,

by the persistence of some gender-m arked attitudes, even

in the cases of women who became aware of them but were

unable to avoid the consequences. And that was, and is, be-

yond any planning.

• O ther things were part of the built environm ent that we had

not consid ered. Th ere was already a who le built environ-

m ent of institutions, private and governm ental, with their

laws and bu reaucratic instances. Th ere w as an econom ic envi-

ronment built through capitalistic exploitation, and a cultural

environment that stressed the limits of the poor, the women,

the excluded. These environm ents, built not only outside b ut

also in the subjectivity of all of us who were involved in the

project, were much more solid and stable that the bricks, and

they persisted beyond what we had thou ght, resisting the cre-

ation of alternative building.

• Finally, the natural env ironm ent also gave une xpe cted an-

swers. The soil did not behave well with the new situation.

Among other things, because the water was not absorbed as

before, it ran through the newly paved streets and accumu-

lated in the old mu d streets a nd op en spaces, and with th e first

storm many trees fell because their roots had becom e rotten.

That could be explained afterward, but was not expected be-

forehand. Other similar inconveniences appeared. The reac-

tion of the soil, of the trees, of the water well, protested in


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appreciate in new

w ys

God's patienc e and incarnation . Plan ning is an

open bu siness, and results are never what we expect. The new and un-

expected comes in; surprises, good or bad, appear. Sometimes they

can be explained afterward and the n the y seem logical, bu t in practice

we always ignore som e of the facts: the reaction of free hu m an beings,

the deepness of cultural persistence, the changes in politics, the be-

havior of nature, and many other things are never strictly predictable.

And it is not only the human environment, but the Divine and the

whole of creation that becomes part of the dialogue. It is necessary to

take into account the integrity of creation, the material dimension of

the dialogue. It is a dialogue of ll creation.

To ven ture into this type of dialogue and d evelo pm ent is far from

an ontological design that shows itself evolving through time; neither

is it a fixed destiny already spelled out in the stars (or in a celestial

book),

and even less the outcome of the will of human power or

knowledge. There is human force and love, certain expected natural

resources available, an amount of needed luck in any enterprise, and

many other good possibilities, yet these are inscribed in the precari-

ous,

in the fragility of cre ate d thin gs; a successful o utc om e is not gua r-

anteed even in the better conceived projects. But, because of God's

grace, the re is also the new, the unexp ected, the messianic device in-

scribed in us, giving hope, inspiring faith, inviting us to persist. There

is also God's Spirit, coming from outside our subjectivity, from God's

transcend ence. Acknowledgment of our limited capacities does not

mean to renounce our involvement in human history, to propose and

plan, to create and do, to will and perform. On the contrary, part of

this surprise is God mixing in human history as we carry it out, God's

presence in history, most of the times in unexpected ways, as we re-

cently celebrated in Christmas. G od is mo re constant than the ch urch,

and God's grace is exactly that, the expec ted surprise.

Corruption as System

Now, why is it that peop le and things do not behave ? The Bible

gives us many clues. I will just m ention one para grap h from Paul


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the anxious longing of

the

creation waits eagerly for the revealing

of God's children. For the creation was subjected to futility, not

willingly, hut hecause of who subjected it, in hope that the cre-

ation itself

lso

will be set free from its slavery to corruption into

the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For

we

know that

the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth to-

getlier until now. (Rom. 8:18-22)''

I am aware of the many exegetical difficulties in the passage that

we do not have here the time to consider. But taking it as a whole,

what struck m e in this description by Paul is th e image of a bon dage to

corruption. T he pres ent suffering is attributed to a creation u nd er op -

pression , in bondage to futility, th at

is,

slavery to corrup tion. W ho su b-

jec ted it and w hy is one of the am biguities involved in the text. Is it a

design of

God

as part of the chastisement for hum an disobedience? Is

it Satan as ruler of the w orld, or the princip ahties a nd pow ers that op -

pose the divine? Is it the Roman Empire (not totally separated from

the previous), and its oppressive injustice, that God's children have to

endure as part of the struggle while awaiting the glorious manifesta-

tion of the Messiah, so they can exhibit the fullness of their liberty?

Arguments supporting each of these and perhaps other explanations,

or the combination of some, are not wanting. Yet, whatever our ex-

planatory option might be, something is clear: Things are not what

they were created to be. They have become sometliing else, because

they have bec om e vanity, futility. T he Gre ek w ord h ere recalls h nger-

ing, wandering about without a clear goal, doing worthless things or

also em ptiness : that

is,

actions or things devoid of their original in ten t.

Th at is what is m eant by a bonda ge to corruption. W hen I look up the

word corru ption in a dictionary, in this case the English online

W ikipedia, I find:

Corruption is essentially termed as an impairment of integrity,

virtue or moral principle; depravity, decay, and/or an induce-

ment to wrong by improper or unlawful means, a departure from

the original or from what is pure or correct, and/or an agency or


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influence that corrupts." Corruption, when applied as a technical

term, is a general concept describing any organized, interdepen-

dent system in which part of the system is either not performing

duties it

w s

originally intended to, or performing them in an im-

proper

way,

to the detriment ofthe system

s

original purpose.^

The co rruption of an object or a hu m an being is a deviation from

its original purpose, meaning, or function. And I find that todays

world system has become absolutely corrupt. It is not only the petty

corruption of a bribe given to police to avoid a traffic fine, nor even

some g overnor selling a Senate chair, or an African leade r d enying the

dramatic failure of his country's health care system, or a presidents

dishonesty in enforcing terr or while saying tha t he com bats terroris m .

Corrup tion is the essence o fth e prese nt world order, especially when

we look at the development of the economy. The examples just given

are the hyperbolic expression of what is embedded throughout the

structure of globalizing—and globalization is the "built environment"

of todays world. The system will not work if not on the basis of cor-

ruption. Corruption is the m otor of th e system.

The hegemonic pattern today is what has been called late finan-

cial capitalism. For capitalism, in any of its faces, the idea of profit is

con side red as an eng ine of all hu m an activity. It even goes further, and

some of its m ore radical advocates m aintain tha t lust for gain and anx-

iety for accum ulation are part of hu m an na ture. Yet, it must b e clearly

stated that that claim is far from true. The ways and objectives of ex-

change vary through different cultures. Economic greed is not uni-

versal, but a construction of the West. You find many sins in other

cultu res, bu t th e wiU and ways to bec om e rich, ac quire glory, or exer-

cise pow er are n ot always the sam e. And, in our c ase, gre ed is not con-

sidered sin, bu t a virtue No t only

a

virtue, one among others, but

the

virtue that decides: to be ambitious is a requirement to be promoted

to executive posts in b usiness.

Now, the search for economic gain causes human activities to be

subjected to an end other than their own. For example, a laboratory

produces a medicine to cure disease. The declared goal is to ensure


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hea lth. But in that sam e act is the pu rsuit of an oth er pu rpo se, which is

economic gain. And if the two conflict, then the search for proflt takes

the upper hand. It is more important to satisfy the shareholders than

to provide medicine to a sick population, especially if it is poor. Copy-

right and trademark laws are enforced to protect profit, not the well-

being of the population.

In that same order, many urban construction companies are en-

gaged in building houses to sell, not necessarily for inhab itance . T hey

design houses, buildings, and closed neighborhoods that are modeled

by fashion, planned for the market, meeting the requirements of

th e investor, not of the occup ant, even less of the complex ne ed s of the

city and its environment, natural and social. The recent mortgage cri-

sis reveals the weakness of the housing market, since plans are made

in orde r to sell, not for th e sake of bet ter living conditions.

Now, this should not surprise us. The modem city is a result, in

many senses, of industrial production. It grew with the industrial rev-

olution, and modified the medieval and feudal city by the introd uction

of new forms of prod uction . This prod uc ed the city and th e built envi-

ronm ent that we now know and inhabit, not only because th e city was

needed and adapted for industrial production, but also because the

prod ucts of industry shape our Hves and environ m ent the car being

the most evident example).

Industrialization grew hand in hand with capitahsm, with the rise

of the bourgeois class. Even if protest grew—and eventually in some

areas different sorts of sociahst experiments grew and are still imple-

mented—the basic design of the modem city is still marked by tlie

changes brought by capitalistic industrialization, at least in the West.

The ideologies and theologies of progress that we mentioned before

are associated also with this deve lopm ent.

In Latin America and many other third world nations and peo-

ples, the city is the product of colonialism, which either constructed

them or dramatically altered the traditional existing cities. As a m atter

of fact, conquest and colonial occupation are what have built todays

enviro nm ent, not only in th e cities, bu t also in rural a reas. Traditional

ways of life w ere sub m itted to th e gree d, ne ed s, and customs of the in-


16/22


and even owned by others. The Pauline statement that all creation is

subjected to the slavery of corruption is not only a theological asser-

tion, it is the life experience of th e poor, of the opp ressed , of the des -

titute , of those w ho suffer ethn ic, gender, or class discrimination. Th at

fragility has been worsening with todays globalization.

Although many of these countries, through the nineteenth and

twentieth centuries, became independent, most of them are still sub-

jec t und er the bo nda ge of futility, in slavery to corruption) to neo-

colonial conditions, to the dictates of international finance centers, to

the requirements of external markets. The prevailing economic

schem e at tlie world level is tha t of financial capitalism, an d eve rythin g

built in it must adapt to its laws. While postmodernism criticized the

cunning of reason of the Enlightenment, it goes on without a severe

critique of its economic outcome: financial capitalism. Rather, in the

last analysis, postmodern philosophy acts as an ideological cover of

late global capitalism: the cunning of reason has turned into the rea-

son for cunning. In its late stage, submitting the production of goods

to financial speculation and th e global imposition of th e free m arket, it

pretends to replace the collective with the individual, the res publica

with the private interest, the n eeds of the m ajority of the w orlds p op -

ulation with the hedonist pleasure of the global elite.

To give one example, we can mention the rise of the prices of

food, especially grain and oil producing commodities, because of the

nee d to turn the m into energy for the cars of the affiuent w orld and its

ruling class. Small agricultural prod uce rs r en t the ir land to seed poo ls,

which produ ce for the large world m arket using new technologies that

replace the rural laborers. So the small farms are swallowed up by

these great anonymous capitals, and do not feed anyinore the imme-

diate population. The farmers get a higher rent than the benefit they

obtained through the hard work, and they go to the city to gamble in

the commodities stock market. Away also go the laborers and their

families to populate the miserable shanty towns that encircle the big

cities. This is really the way the env ironm ent is being built in the real-

ity of most of th e th ird w orld and also in the holes of pov erty of the af-

fiuent world. This is also the cause behind the new trends of


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lives, and des ires of the s urro und ing po pulation, b ut by the tyranny of

the free ma rket. This has altered th e whole agricultural schem e in the

world, and is threatening to increase the suffering of the hunger-

stricken populations of Asia, Latin America, and Africa—not to men-

tion the consequences for nations like Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia

of the increase of drug consumption in the developed world, able to

pay for some grams of cocaine the worth of several days of a family

diet. What were once bean-producing farms have turned into hidden

coca plantations, and those living in what were communal rural vil-

lages are now living afraid of the dealer's power. C reation subjec ted to

corruption.

It is not my intent to blame the city for the distress of the poor.

City and rural poor alike are not fit for the global free market econ-

omy, while great financial players become, when their brokers so tell

them , transitory or pe rm ane nt landow ners. Th e m arket only considers

those who have money, and the amount of money you deposit in the

gam e places you in the m arket. Th e free m arket does no t exist: mark et

goods are never free, and what is free needs no market. Obviously, I

am aware tha t I am playing with the am bivalence of the word free in

English. When the advocates of the free market use this expression

they in no way mean that things are gratuitous, but that the market

should not be controlled by any rules but its own. Yet the two are not

so far apart as they seem, because to have an uncontrolled market

amounts to letting the market control everything. So in order to have

a free market, nothing can be free of the market, so the market itself

becomes the slave market. The poor of the world and die ecology of

the Earth are paying the price of the free market. By the way, Chris-

tian theology still is lacking a thorough study of the consequences of

the doc trine of grace in the field of econom ics.

It is the dynamic of the financial market that plans and indicates

the way we build our environment, rural and city alike. The worst

nightmare of science-fiction stories, where human-created devices

become autonomous and end up dominating human life, is already

happening: money, capital, a man-created reality, has captured the

minds of humans. It imposes its own decisions and kills those who


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Nothing can be trad ed, acquired, disposed of without its intervention.

It is, for John of

Patmos,

the mark of the be ast (Rev. 13:17).

The suffering of human beings and the whole of creation by this

particular system of submitting creation to corruption shows that

cities, hou ses, or even th e way of land o wnership a re no t built to fulfill

their primary

goal,

but are corrupte d by anoth er value, that m easured

in terms of

money.

As we read in the definition quo ted above: part of

the system is either not performing duties it was originally intended

to ,

or performing them in an improper way, to the detriment of the

system's original pu rpose. It is profit, and not th e quality of hfe of

the majority of the people, that moves today's housing developments.

It is certainly not the free m arket th at P aul is thinking of wh en he

writes tha t the crea tion itself also will be se t free from its slavery to

corrup tion into the freedom of the glory of the ch ildren of

God.

Free

market

s

not an expression of liberty, as th e spo kespersons of the E m -

pire want to convince us, but of corruption. And by E m pire I do no t

mean the imperial dominion of any given country, but the alignment

of certain political, economic, and military powers that comprise the

global elite and tha t aspire to impo se the ir will and m ight withou t co n-

trol, to the exclusive end of their benefit. Their Hberty means the slav-

ery of billions of othe r pe ople . Th e p urp ose of financial gain is set as

social organizer, thus fostering the perversion of

ends.

No won der that

the creation groans and suffers. Gorruption, under other names (cor-

porate ambition, progress, the right to royalties, preemptive war, and

so on), even acquires an axiological sense or meaning in a capitalist

scale. Paul's warning to the G alatians is ignored: Bu t if you bite an d

devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one an-

oth er (Gal. 5:15).

nticipation as Ethical

Is the re any hope? After depicting such an om inous panoram a, is

the re anything that can be done bu t cry and lam ent? Wh at would be a

Ghristian witness in the built environment in these given circum-

stances? W hat can a theology that wants to advance the freedom of


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profit, short-term solutions, and ethnocen trism— not to mention ego-

tism, blindness, obstinate stubb ornn ess, superficiality, o r negligen ce—

guide th e actions of politicians and p lann ers, of develo pers, and many

times , also of volunteers in socially con cern ed organizations.

How ever, faith does n ot m ove as a reaction to a prob lem bu t from

a vision inspired by Cod, guided by a commitment to life that begins

to live up to that ho pe, tlie promised reign of Co d. In many qu arters,

those who become aware of the present and coming problems begin

to grow strategies of resistance. Yet resistance, while necessary in cer-

tain circumstances, is never enough. Resistance is anchored in some

illusion of th e past. Resistance mea ns opposition, bu t as Christians we

are bou nd to talk of propo sition, of hop e, oft he coming, of Cod s sur-

prise. There is no future in the past. What we need is not only an

etliics of resistance, but the vision of a possible future. It is anticipa-

tion o fth e kind of world we long for, bu t we long for th e com ing reign

of Co d, no t for a past E de n. Perh aps som etimes it is necessary to go a

step backward to take another road, yet our hope is not of what we

have already seen, but for the manifestation of the freedom of the

glory of th e children of Co d.

W hen we con tinue reading the passage of Paul s letter to the R o-

mans, we find this assertion of faith:

And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of

tlie Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting ea-

gerly for the adoption as sons [and daugh ters], the re dem ption of

our body. Fo r in hop e we have b een saved, but h ope tliat is seen is

not hope; for who hopes for what it is already seen? But if we

hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly

forit. (Rom. 8:23-25)

This is, w ithout dou bt, e m be dd ed in Paul s apocalyptic theology.

Yet we shou ld not, in that sense, confuse Paul s apocalyptic th e-

ology with the Armageddon and rapture vision construed and spon-

sored by dispensationalist theology. Fo r Paul (as for John of Patm os),

the final revelation of the Messiah in his glory is not a message of de-


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578

nglican Theo logical Review

the whole of creation need not be condemned or vanquished, dis-

solved into some spiritual evasion, bu t we ne ed a bodily rede m ptio n of

ourselves and the whole of creation. Creation has to be saved from

corruption and resto red to its original purpo se: hum an life, th e b eau ty

of creation, and divine love are also manifested in the way we deal

with the material reality, in which materiality is included in our salva-

tion dialogue.

For that reason anticipation is the ethical way of faith. We are

called to act in such a way that our behavior shows the kind of life we

are long ing for. This leads to adjusting behavior to the vision, as a way

of changing th e prevailing symbolic system. Tha t is to pu t life, and not

profit, at the center of any decision—Hfe tliat is worthy of humans for

everybody, life that liberates not only people, but the totality of the

created world. Life that is conscious of its ambiguities, failures, and

restrictions bom of our inadequate knowledge, which means open-

ness to review, to correct, to hear; openness to the new, to the unex-

pec ted , to the cry of the least of our brothe rs and sisters. Life that is

aware of the limits that can only be overcom e by the glorious man ifes-

tation of the trium pha nt M essiah, who is non e other than th e slaugh-

tered victim of human history, with whom the victims of Babylon are

identified (Rev. 18:24).

Paul is aware that this justice needs to overcome the shortcom-

ings of wh at he calls the law. The m ain pro blem with the law, as I un-

dersta nd Paul, is that it conceals the real peo ple. It acts as a screen that

occults the other, and only lets us see a proje cted shadow. Th e othe r is

not the subject with whom I interact, but the object of

regulated ac-

tion. So my goal is not the life of the o ther, to hon or th e life C od shed

in the m , bu t to fulfill the formal req uire m en ts of the law. Th us, the law

replaces th e real othe r with a fiction of the othe r. This is why th e only

law that resists this failure is the one that directs me directly to the

other: Love your neighbor.

The mark et has acqu ired the dimension of what Paul calls the

law. It conceals the real neighbor, and pre sen ts us a virtual other,

and relations with the other and with nature are mediated by money.

Now, as with the law, I do not co nde m n the m arket: the re is a place for


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A T H E O L O G Y O F T H E U R B A N S P A CE 579

is sustained and nu rture d in what cannot b e priced. To pu t a price to

love has anothe r na m e.

A theology of incarnation, a pneumatology of God's presence in

crea tion, is bo un d to take love seriously. It is not simply by cha nce tha t

Friedrich Hayek, the most radical champion of the market economy,

explicitly says that love has no place in econom ics, and , at most, it m ust

be restrained to domestic relationships.^ If there is no place for love,

for m ercy, for gra ce, there is no place for life. The invisible hand of th e

market is pressing the human throat, choking life.

We live by grace: our behavior m ust signal tha t reality. W e expect

the u nex pected , we hear tlie cry of the de stitute ; we are confident not

in the progress of history, but in the word that comes to us from the

Greator of times. To build a human environment we must recover

th e centra l value of hum an life, rescue it from the invisible hand of the

market. History is not linear, not even dialectical: it is guided by

the tension between memory and hope, between human liberty (with

its failures and errors, its signs of solidarity and good will) and divine

grace. To live in a human environment is to be aware of this ambigu-

ity, and to be open to the transcendence that is manifested in the

weakest. As W alter Benjamin has said: Fo r in it every second was

the narrow gate, through which the Messiah could enter. ^ The built

environment has to be constructed in this expectation. And as Ghris-

tians, we are called to live in anticipation of this reality, manifesting

tha t we have th e first fruits of tlie Spirit and for tha t, we ho pe for

what we do not see.


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a theology of the urban space

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