JFSR VOL. 22, NO. 2
EDITORS' INTRODUCTION

Envisioning the future always includes critically revisiting the past and taking careful stock of the present. The contributors to this issue demonstrate this ongoing process of imagining the future of global feminisms and feminist studies in religion through their rich analyses of the past and present. The first three articles discuss the implications of feminist interpretation in three different textual traditions—the Christian Testament, the Qur'an, and Pali Buddhist literature. They explore possibilities for the practice of feminist biblical interpretation, understanding feminism in Iran, and exploring Indian Buddhist women's history, based on an analysis of current intersections and divergences or on a critical look at the work of the past. The participants of the Native/First Nation roundtable lay out a diverse agenda for future conversation and activism through their response to the lead article's strategic reclaiming of the category "liberation theology" and its creative reuse of the image of the master's house and the master's tools. In the Living It Out section, the issue concludes with the story of the production and afterlife of Period Piece, an early feminist film claiming menstruation as a site of feminist reflection and creativity. The responses in this section are a testament to the wide array of personal, theoretical, and artistic fruits of this groundbreaking feminist labor.

In order to continue to empower the future of feminist work, the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion annually recognizes new scholars in the field for the individual accomplishments of their early work. Cutting across disciplines, these new feminist scholars demonstrate the vibrancy of feminist studies in religion. We thank Margaret Miles, Kathleen Sands, and Mary Churchill for their willingness to serve as judges for this year's award and their tireless commitment to the work of JFSR.

Joseph Marchal's article is the recipient of this year's New Scholar Award. His article interrogates the connections and gaps among three strands of biblical interpretation: postcolonial theory, feminist hermeneutics, and the study of Roman imperialism. By examining the rhetoric of Philippians in light of categories of travel, the view of outsiders, and gender, Marchal demonstrates the value of articulating a postcolonial, feminist framework of interpretation that takes seriously both the politics of interpretation and the intersections of hierarchies of domination in the context of empire. 

Fereshteh Ahmadi receives honorable mention from the New Scholar Award panel of judges. Her article contributes to a detailed and complex picture of the Middle East with her insider analysis of Iranian feminism. Ahmadi describes how "a new generation of feminists has emerged during the past two decades, as women's issues became an integral part of the modern Islamic discourses." Initially, feminist responses were developed by secular Iranian women, but Ahmadi discusses Iranian women who work within an Islamic framework and have entered the conversations about feminist reinterpretations of the Qur'an and Shari'a. Amidst a flourishing of feminist journals, NGOs, and emerging feminist leaders, a solidarity has begun between secular and religious Iranian feminists, even as they have begun new dialogues with feminists across the globe. 

In her article, Alice Collett crosses centuries as she explores the ways in which the discussion of Buddhism and gender has been shaped by the work of three early-twentieth-century female scholars: Caroline Rhys Davids, Mabel Bode, and Isaline Blew (I. B.) Horner. Identifying how Orientalism shaped these interpreters' approach to Buddhism and resulted in the valuing of Pali literature over other texts, Collett proposes expanding the corpus of work considered relevant and useful for studying women and gender in ancient Indian Buddhism. She argues for a contextual-historical approaches to the texts and an emphasis on the plurality of voices within and across texts. 

The roundtable discussion similarly traces old paths in order to forge new trails. Andrea Smith draws on her work in Native American feminist intellectual ethnography in order to theorize Native liberation theology. Although recognizing that Native scholarship has questioned the usefulness of liberation theology, Smith warns that "the anthropological focus of comparative religious studies lacks an explicit concern about ethics that is integral to the discipline of theology, particularly liberation theology. It is not enough to understand or describe Native religious experience; it is also necessary to advocate for the survival of Native spiritual practices and an end to colonialism." To this end, she explores how Native theological imagination can contribute to indigenous notions of sovereignty that reflect the "world we would like to live in." 

Michelene Pesantubbee responds to Smith by more sharply defining Native American theology as distinct from Native American Christian theology. For her, liberation and theology most often imply a Christian bias. Pesantubbee reviews the scholarship of other Native Americans who strive to balance their culture with the study of religion. Perhaps, she suggests, Native concepts held in common are possible as "new" Indian missionaries/entrepreneurs become involved and contribute to future analyses. Dianne Stewart lauds Smith for divesting the term theology from an exclusively Christian orientation. Stewart calls Smith's work a daring move against cultural genocide and notes  the way that it resonates with her own efforts to plumb the non-Christian foundations of black theology. 

Cuban American scholar Michelle Gonzalez affirms that indigenous identity and the role of the minority theologian are strategic areas for dialogues among minority groups. She explores how the Latino/a category mestizaje/mulatez challenges an overly dualistic (Native/non-Native or Native/Western) construction of Native identity. She identifies the critique and articulation of liberation theology and an analysis of the politics of representation as common tasks for Latino/a and Native scholars alike. 

Tink Tinker responds to Smith through the lens of First Peoples. He presents a few examples of the differences between Native and European/Western conceptualizations of the religious realm. His view explores the idea of liberation and the sociopolitical complexities that exist around the concept of Native sovereignty. Sylvester Johnson sees possibilities in Smith's call for clear-eyed analysis of American nationalism and moving past divisive scholarship that either romanticizes or essentializes Native people and traditions. For Johnson, as for Smith, such analyses should become catalysts for social action on behalf of the victims of colonialism/nationalism. 

Finally, in the Living It Out section of this issue, Emily Culpepper offers a retrospective on her groundbreaking feminist film of the 1970s, Period Piece. Made during her graduate studies at Harvard Divinity School, Culpepper's film emerged from her studies of the social, ethical, sexual, and religious complexities of menstrual periods. The responses to her work reflect the power of Culpepper's Period Piece and its impact on future feminists. Art historian Gannit Ankori points to feminist art that is only possible  because of Culpepper's film. The visuals included by Ankori are valuable indicators of the continuing interest in the spiritual power of menstruation. 

Period Piece continues to stir the imaginations and reflections of women. For Karen King, the scholarly study of the body and the process of writing for the academy too often erase real women's bodies and silence women's voices. Period Piece is an invaluable and constant corrective placing women's bodies and women's voices at the center of reflection. For Sarah Peck, a current student at Harvard Divinity School, the spirit of the film carries on in recent performances of the Vagina Monologues as a sacred practice. For Claudia Highbaugh, the film has a gathering effect, creating a "moment of recognition that invites women to continue surviving together in healthy and hopeful cognition of our bodies and our stories." 

We thank the contributors for their insightful and important work. On the whole, the issue illustrates the multidimensional nature of global feminist inquiry and activism, which does not resemble a linear march of progress but a complex turning and returning, inventing and reusing again in ever new contexts.

Stephanie Y. Mitchem 
Melanie Johnson-DeBaufre
Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza