Waging Peace: Building a World in which Life Matters. Edited by Lalrinawmi Ralte and Stella Faria. Delhi: ISPCK, 2004, 361 pp. 

This timely volume is a festschrift in honour of Gabriele Dietrich, who has served as professor at the Social Analysis Centre at Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary in Madurai. Originally from Berlin, Prof. Dietrich has studied, worked, and taught in India since 1964, during which time she has earned a reputation as a committed activist working with a multitude of social advocacy organizations seeking change and “waging peace” on behalf of the disenfranchised, especially women. Her decision to live out her life in India (she became a citizen of India in the late 1980s) is a relevant background to appreciate this volume. 

This collection of essays, primarily by leading Asian women theologians, social activists, and some prominent Western women theologians, shines a bright light on many pressing issues affecting the lives of women in Asia today, for whom Dr. Dietrich has dedicated her life’s work. Articles such as Tanika Sankar’s “Mumbai” and Uma Chakravarti’s “The Social and Historical Contexts of ‘Choice’ in Marriage” draw attention to the depth and breadth of challenges such as caste conflicts, civil rights of women, fundamentalism, globalization and economic injustice. Some groups of women, such as those among the scheduled tribes, face particularly difficult situations, as amply illustrated in the essay on social, economic, and health conditions of tribal women and children in Maharastra by Chhaya Datar. Rosemary Radford Ruether’s essay, “Women and Globalization,” discusses the connections between the victimization of women in local settings in India and the macro-economic policies of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Trade Organization, as well as multi-national corporations operating in Asia. Mary Schaller Blaufuss’ article argues for the Christian church to respond by helping the “disappeared” (i.e., the poor and marginalized, most of whom are women) to “appear” and claim their birthright as people of God. Too often the Christian church has been silent on issues such as those named here, but the work of Dr. Dietrich and the other writers represented in this volume present a powerful witness to others who would also work for change.

The many voices represented in this volume include women and men working within the legal system, the arts, financial structures, publishing, ecology, social analysis, advocacy, and theological interpretation. The strong collection of essays provide a solid framework for Asian readers and others to begin to see the enormity of the tasks faced by those who are waging peace in India today. The book should be required reading in all seminaries and women’s studies programs, as it speaks powerfully and eloquently to the reader with the good fortune to uncover its riches.

Rev. Deborah Patterson is Executive Director, Deaconess, of the Parish Nurse Ministries and International Parish Nurse Resource Center, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.