Elina Hankela
Biographic Data
| ID | 169299 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Elina Hankela |
| GIVEN NAMES | Elina |
| FAMILY NAME | Hankela |
| SIGNATURE | HANKELA E |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Johannesburg |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5159-4425 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 6 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 13 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2011 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Liberating liberation theologies in post-apartheid South Africa: New directions
In taking the notions of dynamicity and change seriously, this article offers a critical, albeit partial, examination of the status quo of liberation theologies in South Africa. To that end, this article provided a background to our thinking on how and why the current discourse on liberation theologies must be challenged to embrace alternative liberative ways of thinking and being that exist outside of academia and, consequently, outside a libera…
An Emerging Framework of Inclusion: Listening to the Voices of Non-Ordained Anglican Women
The article outlines a grounded framework for considering and working towards inclusion in ecclesial contexts in and beyond South Africa. This framework is based on stories gathered through a qualitative study among non-ordained women in two parishes of the Anglican Church in Southern Africa in the Diocese of Johannesburg. Five elements of inclusion that make up the framework emerged in the analysis of the data: acceptance, community, choice, voi…
Language Practices as Religious Innovation: The Case of Pentecostal Charismatic Churches in Xenophobic Contexts
In the authors’ recent case-study research of migrant-dominated Pentecostal charismatic churches (PCCs) in the South African cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town, language emerged as a prominent feature of religious practice, suggesting a positive correlation between experiences of xenophobia and religious innovation. This perspective is developed through the identification and discussion of two interlinked themes that surfaced from a closer anal…
Pentecostal Theology, Identity Politics, and Racialized Xenophobia: Claiming A New Social Order
Applying the methodological lens of ethnographic theology, the article argues that grounded Pentecostal theologies participate in reimagining a new social order, particularly in relation to racialized xenophobia. This argument is made in the specific context of two Pentecostal churches in Johannesburg, South Africa, both led and frequented by people who have come to Johannesburg from other parts of the African continent. The argument is outlined …
Liberating the classroom: Ethnographic elements in liberation theologies curricula
A lively conversation has arisen in recent years among theologians concerning ethnographic theology. While liberation theologians have scarcely participated in it, an emphasis on lived experience – which ethnography aims to understand – lies at the heart of theologies of liberation. This article addresses the question of employing ethnographic elements in teaching liberation theologies by bringing higher education scholarship into conversation wi…
Segmented urban space and the ethics of belonging in migrants' Johannesburg
This article argues, from an ethnographic perspective and in the particular context of a group of young, black, low-income, Zimbabwean male migrants in Johannesburg, that the ethics of belonging among them are underpinned by the values of survival and mutual recognition. This occurs in a spatially demarcated manner informed by how the migrants' perceive their social location and identity in different spaces in the city. Applying a micro spatial l…
Social justice required: Youth at the margins, churches and social cohesion in South Africa
The divides within South African society remain stark, also for youth born after apartheid officially ended in 1994. At the same time, adherence to a faith tradition is statistically high among South Africans, and faith-based organisations (FBOs), an umbrella term including but not limited to churches, also have high levels of youth participation. Scholars have identified positive connotations between FBOs, civil society, social welfare and socia…
There is a Reason’: A Call to Re-Consider the Relationship between Charity and Social Justice
Contemporary academic discourse on social justice increasingly urges the elision of aspects of ‘charity’ from the concept. Writing in the context of liberation theology discourse in particular, the author agrees with the need to prioritize social-justice-centred frameworks but argues for an explicit theorization of (true) charity as a vital element within them. The argument is informed by ethnographic engagement with a group of young, low-income …
Ubuntu: Curating the Archive Edited by Leonard Praeg and Siphokazi Magadla
Elaborating on ubuntu in a Johannesburg inner-city church
The article was originally delivered as the speech of the winner of the 2014 Donner Institute Prize for Outstanding Research into Religion, and deals with some core findings of the research that won the prize, namely, the doctoral thesis Challenging Ubuntu: Open Doors and Exclusionary Boundaries at the Central Methodist Mission in Johannesburg. The author approaches the meanings of ubuntu (Nguni: humanity/humanness) in the context of a Methodist …
“We’re not liberated yet in South Africa”
This article makes a case for employing the concept of humanity as the core category in the struggle(s) for liberation in the context of the Central Methodist Mission ( CMM ) in inner-city Johannesburg. It does so through engaging with the praxis of the leader of the CMM and, in particular, analysing his theological reflection. The concept of humanity offers a flexible framework for an on-going liberationist ministry in a changing society; it als…
Ubuntu, Migration and Ministry: Being Human in a Johannesburg Church
Systematic Theology at the Grassroots – an Oxymoron or a Way to the Future? A Story of Combining Anthropological Methods and a Systematic Theological Approach
This study explores the challenges and possibilities of using anthropological research methods in constructive systematic theology and ethics. This analysis is approached through a discussion of the methodological choices that the author has made in conducting her PhD research in an area that lacks the sources that are traditionally affiliated with systematic theology, written texts and documents. Aligning with a liberation theological call for l…
Segmented urban space and the ethics of belonging in migrants' Johannesburg
This article argues, from an ethnographic perspective and in the particular context of a group of young, black, low-income, Zimbabwean male migrants in Johannesburg, that the ethics of belonging among them are underpinned by the values of survival and mutual recognition. This occurs in a spatially demarcated manner informed by how the migrants' perceive their social location and identity in different spaces in the city. Applying a micro spatial l…
Systematic Theology at the Grassroots – an Oxymoron or a Way to the Future? A Story of Combining Anthropological Methods and a Systematic Theological Approach
This study explores the challenges and possibilities of using anthropological research methods in constructive systematic theology and ethics. This analysis is approached through a discussion of the methodological choices that the author has made in conducting her PhD research in an area that lacks the sources that are traditionally affiliated with systematic theology, written texts and documents. Aligning with a liberation theological call for l…
Systematic Theology at the Grassroots – an Oxymoron or a Way to the Future? A Story of Combining Anthropological Methods and a Systematic Theological Approach
This study explores the challenges and possibilities of using anthropological research methods in constructive systematic theology and ethics. This analysis is approached through a discussion of the methodological choices that the author has made in conducting her PhD research in an area that lacks the sources that are traditionally affiliated with systematic theology, written texts and documents. Aligning with a liberation theological call for l…
“We’re not liberated yet in South Africa”
This article makes a case for employing the concept of humanity as the core category in the struggle(s) for liberation in the context of the Central Methodist Mission ( CMM ) in inner-city Johannesburg. It does so through engaging with the praxis of the leader of the CMM and, in particular, analysing his theological reflection. The concept of humanity offers a flexible framework for an on-going liberationist ministry in a changing society; it als…
Ubuntu, Migration and Ministry: Being Human in a Johannesburg Church
Elaborating on ubuntu in a Johannesburg inner-city church
The article was originally delivered as the speech of the winner of the 2014 Donner Institute Prize for Outstanding Research into Religion, and deals with some core findings of the research that won the prize, namely, the doctoral thesis Challenging Ubuntu: Open Doors and Exclusionary Boundaries at the Central Methodist Mission in Johannesburg. The author approaches the meanings of ubuntu (Nguni: humanity/humanness) in the context of a Methodist …
Ubuntu: Curating the Archive Edited by Leonard Praeg and Siphokazi Magadla
There is a Reason’: A Call to Re-Consider the Relationship between Charity and Social Justice
Contemporary academic discourse on social justice increasingly urges the elision of aspects of ‘charity’ from the concept. Writing in the context of liberation theology discourse in particular, the author agrees with the need to prioritize social-justice-centred frameworks but argues for an explicit theorization of (true) charity as a vital element within them. The argument is informed by ethnographic engagement with a group of young, low-income …
Social justice required: Youth at the margins, churches and social cohesion in South Africa
The divides within South African society remain stark, also for youth born after apartheid officially ended in 1994. At the same time, adherence to a faith tradition is statistically high among South Africans, and faith-based organisations (FBOs), an umbrella term including but not limited to churches, also have high levels of youth participation. Scholars have identified positive connotations between FBOs, civil society, social welfare and socia…
Liberating the classroom: Ethnographic elements in liberation theologies curricula
A lively conversation has arisen in recent years among theologians concerning ethnographic theology. While liberation theologians have scarcely participated in it, an emphasis on lived experience – which ethnography aims to understand – lies at the heart of theologies of liberation. This article addresses the question of employing ethnographic elements in teaching liberation theologies by bringing higher education scholarship into conversation wi…
Segmented urban space and the ethics of belonging in migrants' Johannesburg
This article argues, from an ethnographic perspective and in the particular context of a group of young, black, low-income, Zimbabwean male migrants in Johannesburg, that the ethics of belonging among them are underpinned by the values of survival and mutual recognition. This occurs in a spatially demarcated manner informed by how the migrants' perceive their social location and identity in different spaces in the city. Applying a micro spatial l…
Language Practices as Religious Innovation: The Case of Pentecostal Charismatic Churches in Xenophobic Contexts
In the authors’ recent case-study research of migrant-dominated Pentecostal charismatic churches (PCCs) in the South African cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town, language emerged as a prominent feature of religious practice, suggesting a positive correlation between experiences of xenophobia and religious innovation. This perspective is developed through the identification and discussion of two interlinked themes that surfaced from a closer anal…
Pentecostal Theology, Identity Politics, and Racialized Xenophobia: Claiming A New Social Order
Applying the methodological lens of ethnographic theology, the article argues that grounded Pentecostal theologies participate in reimagining a new social order, particularly in relation to racialized xenophobia. This argument is made in the specific context of two Pentecostal churches in Johannesburg, South Africa, both led and frequented by people who have come to Johannesburg from other parts of the African continent. The argument is outlined …
An Emerging Framework of Inclusion: Listening to the Voices of Non-Ordained Anglican Women
The article outlines a grounded framework for considering and working towards inclusion in ecclesial contexts in and beyond South Africa. This framework is based on stories gathered through a qualitative study among non-ordained women in two parishes of the Anglican Church in Southern Africa in the Diocese of Johannesburg. Five elements of inclusion that make up the framework emerged in the analysis of the data: acceptance, community, choice, voi…
Liberating liberation theologies in post-apartheid South Africa: New directions
In taking the notions of dynamicity and change seriously, this article offers a critical, albeit partial, examination of the status quo of liberation theologies in South Africa. To that end, this article provided a background to our thinking on how and why the current discourse on liberation theologies must be challenged to embrace alternative liberative ways of thinking and being that exist outside of academia and, consequently, outside a libera…
Sociology (10 works) · Law (9 works) · Political science (9 works) · Gender Studies (8 works) · Religion, Society, and Development (8 works) · Anthropology (7 works) · Christian Theology and Mission (7 works) · Ethnography (5 works) · Philosophy (5 works) · Aesthetics (3 works)