IBR and SBL Sessions Reviewing The T&T Clark Handbook to Social Identity in the New Testament

The T&T Clark Handbook to Social Identity in the New Testament will be reviewed in two different sessions this week. Here is the list and the presenters.

Initial Thoughts on Aaron J. Kuecker's The Spirit and the 'Other'

Aaron Kuecker, The Spirit and the ‘other’: Social Identity, Ethnicity and Intergroup Reconciliation in Luke-Acts. London: T&T Clark International, 2011. ISBN 9780567235701 $120.00.

Aaron Kuecker, Associate Professor of Theology at Trinity Christian College, in this revised version of his PhD thesis at St. Mary’s College, University of St. Andrews, argues that the Spirit is the central agent in the formation of a new social identity in Luke-Acts. He does this by drawing on the resources of social identity theory and contemporary ethnicity approaches (Kuecker 2011: 24-40). The monograph pays particular attention to Luke 1-4 and Acts 1-15, showing that the former lays the foundation for the way Luke connects social identity, the Spirit, and the ‘other’. In-group benefits are the focus of this section and the way that existing group boundaries are to be transcended. The agency of the Spirit is particularly evident in Acts 1-15. Kuecker rightly recognizes that the Spirit is at work in situations where social identity is called into question and functions to transform individuals and communities by virtue of the development and construal of a new social identity (Kuecker 2011: 212-15). What is unique to Kuecker’s approach is the way he contends that this Spirit-formed identity provides an alternative communal discourse in comparison to the dominant cultural scripts. The result of this transformed identity is interethnic reconciliation, which is made concrete through: (1) new economic practices, (2) new approaches to hospitality, and (3) an ethnic discourse that differs from the dominant one within the Roman Empire. Kuecker’s thorough analysis of social identity theory provides an excellent example of the way this approach to reading the NT brings new insights and reinforces evidence-based exegetical claims that also rely on the resources of contemporary theory.

Kuecker provides a helpful survey of the role of the Spirit in Luke-Acts and it quickly becomes clear that he sees the “spirit of prophecy” model as somewhat unhelpful when seeking to understanding the full agency of the Spirit in Luke-Acts. Particularly persuasive is his claim that the Spirit does not “explicitly inspire speech in the most thoroughly mission-oriented sections of Acts” (Kuecker 2011: 16). Here he has in mind Paul’s missional discourse and his legal defense. Kuecker then claims that “sections of the text where group and social identity are at stake contain the highest density of Spirit references in all of Acts” (Kuecker 2011: 16). This is a key insight from his work. Oftentimes, the work of the Spirit in Luke-Acts is seen in a theological context while overlooking the concrete social context. Kuecker is also concerned with an overly-individualistic interpretation of the Spirit’s role in Luke-Acts; however, his primary concern is “the relationship between the Spirit and ethnic identity in Luke-Acts” (Kuecker 2011: 17). Here he is interested in bringing to the fore the identity processes that are in play in the text that differ from contemporary conceptions of these processes: “There was something powerfully different about the way identity operated in Luke’s early community of believers, and this difference comes out clearly in an investigation of the interplay of Spirit, ethnicity and identity” (Kuecker 2011: 17). Obviously, this is a contested point of view, and it may be we are talking about degrees of difference based on local contexts, rather than stark opposites. The thesis for Kuecker’s work is: “for Luke, the Holy Spirit is the central figure in the formation of a new social identity that affirms yet chastens and transcends ethnic identity. The formation of this new identity is a reflection of profound transformation (not just social recategorization), and is the mechanism through which intergroup reconciliation occurs in Luke-Acts” (Kuecker 2011: 18).

Kuecker’s approach to Christ-movement identity may be described as transcending. In this way, it is similar to Philip Esler’s approach (see my discussion in Tucker 2010: 67-69). Following also a similar approach by Bruce Hansen in All of You Are One, Kuecker recognizes that existing identities are not necessarily obliterated: “This new ethnic identity does not require the negation of ethnic identity” (Kuecker 2011: 19). This is crux of the issue: can a universalistic approach to Christ-movement identity support the contention that existing ethnic (or social) identities can continue in any meaningful sense (see my critique of this position in Tucker 2011: 4-7). Or, if the claim is that the new identity transcends existing identities, how can one assure that such a stance does not simply reify majority culture? These are central questions that distinguish the universalistic and particularistic approaches to Christ-movement social identity. Is it more likely that Christ-movement social identity was defined in the context of existing social identity rather than in a manner that transcends those? Furthermore, is it more likely then that the Spirit was one of several discursive agents that contributed to the formation of Christ-movement identity, rather than the central one (Kuecker 2011: 18). Kuecker’s suggestion is an approach to identity referred to as allocentric. He defines this as: “an identity characterized by or denoting interest centered in persons other than oneself. In the present study, an ‘allocentric identity’ will be used to refer to an identity that can express in-group love and out-group love simultaneously, a very difficult feat within most social groups” (Kuecker 2011: 18 n. 83). This key concept may provide a way forward between the universalistic and particularistic approaches, because it recognizes the alternative communal approach evident in the NT that results in an alternative ethos, one distinct from the dominant culture, but also draws from it for aspects of its identity-formational discourse (see particularly Kuecker 2011: 222). Kuecker has provided a key work on the development of social identity in the early Christ-movement as evidenced by Luke’s writing and, along with Coleman Baker’s Identity, Memory, and Narrative in Early Christianity provide NT scholars with a clear path for the way Luke’s narrative forms identity, though their different approaches to recategorization brings a needed complexity to this fascinating topic within early Christian origins.

References:

Baker, Coleman A. Identity, Memory, and Narrative in Early Christianity: Peter, Paul, and Recategorization in the Book of Acts. Eugene, Or: Pickwick Publications, 2011.

Esler, Philip Francis. Conflict and Identity in Romans: The Social Setting of Paul's Letter. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003.

Hansen, Bruce. All of You Are One: The Social Vision of Galatians 3.28, 1 Corinthians 12.13 and Colossians. 3.11. London: T & T Clark, 2010.

Tucker, J. Brian. You Belong to Christ: Paul and the Formation of Social Identity in 1 Corinthians 1-4. Eugene, Or: Pickwick Publications, 2010.

Tucker, J. Brian. Remain in Your Calling: Paul and the Continuation of Social Identities in 1 Corinthians. Eugene: Pickwick Publications, 2011.

New Bibliography on Social Identity Theory and Biblical Studies

Pat McCullough, a Ph.D. student in New Testament and Christian origins at UCLA posted an excellent bibliography dealing with social identity theory and biblical studies. It is well worth the time if you are interesting in identity studies and the NT.

Social Identity and Self-Categorization Theories and 1 Corinthians

Often I mention social identity in my posts; so I thought I'd offer a brief overview of my theoretical framework with regard to Paul's discourse of identity formation in 1 Corinthians. The social identity theory of Tajfel and Turner (1979: 33-47) provides a theoretical framework from which to understand the ingroup/outgroup relations evident in a text (de Fina, Schiffrin, and Bamberg 2006: 9). Individuals form identity within the nexus of discourse, relationships, and various group memberships. The ensuing contrast in values between the discourse and the identity provides the impetus for negotiation (Cerulo 1997: 385-409). Individuals look to groups for behavioral norms and identity salience (Hogg and Mullin 1999: 249-79). Social identity theory seeks to explain how this interaction occurs. Self-categorization theory, developed by Turner (Turner, et. al 1987), argues that identity salience is contextually determined based, primarily on the available social comparison groups. When an individual attains salient identity then self-stereotyping occurs and the sense of homogeneity with the ingroup increases (Hewstone Rubin, and Willis 2002: 578-9). This self-stereotyping is discursive and may change its level of salience based on the change of outgroups. Texts and other forms of discourse are influential in this social evaluation and the ensuing distancing between one ingroup and another outgroup which may occur. Thus discursive forms of communication may contextualize similarity and difference and thus provide a new conceptual framework from which to evaluate oneself and an outgroup (Hogg 2001: 63-66; Marques, et. al 2001: 402). These two theories intersect when it comes to explaining the perceived characteristics of the outgroup. Ingroup identity is made more salient through a critique of the outgroup, especially if the outgroup is a super-ordinate group and one by which the ingroup feels threatened (Hogg and Mullin 1999: xx; Sherif 2001: 64-70). This external threat increases the likelihood of self-stereotyping and thus distancing from the super-ordinate group. The various outgroups may but do not need to exist in an overtly threatening relationship.

To understand better the nature of Paul’s mission rhetorics it is important to reflect on the nature of group formation and its impact on identity (Brown 2000; Hinkle and Brown 1990: 48-70; Horrell 2000; Esler 2000; Campbell 1991). Paul was ultimately involved in forming groups of individuals and providing them direction on how to re-orient their lives under the new realization of who they were “in Christ.” This identity was one in which a number of nested-identities existed within the population of Roman Corinth in the mid-first century C.E. The category of “in Christ” is ultimately a category which derives its meaning from a Jewish context, even though there is evidence for a Greco-Roman provenance of the concept (Garland 2003: 29; Son 2001: 27). Identity is no longer understood as a stable concept – it is one in which individuals are constantly shifting their self-understanding based on both written and spoken discourse (Hall 1997: 24; Lieu 2004: 12). Negotiated identity occurs within the nexus of written and spoken discourse and ingroup and outgroup interaction and definition. Paul’s rhetoric in the Corinthian correspondence was intended to address the transitional nature of the Corinthians’ identity in Roman Corinth which, if left uncontested, would ultimately hinder his gentile mission in that important colony.

References
Brown, Rupert, Group Processes, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000).

Campbell, William S., Paul’s Gospel in an Intercultural Context: Jew and Gentile in the Letter to the Romans (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1991)

Cerulo, Karen A., “Identity Construction: New Issues, New Directions,” Ann. Rev. Sociol. 23 (1997): 385-409.

de Fina, Anna, Deborah Schiffrin, and Michael Bamberg, ed., Discourse and Identity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006).

Esler, Philip F., “Models in New Testament Interpretation: A Reply to David Horrell,” JSNT 78 (2000): 107-113.

Garland, David E., 1 Corinthians (BECNT; Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003).

Hall, Jonathan, Ethnic Identity in Greek Antiquity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997)

Hewstone, M., M. Rubin and H. Willis, “Intergroup Bias,” Annual Review of Psychology 53 (2002): 578-79.

Hinkle, S. and R. Brown, “Intergroup comparisons and social identity: Some links and lacunae.” in Social identity theory: Constructive and critical advances, ed. D. Abrams and M. A. Hogg, (New York: Springer Verlag, 1990), 48-70.

Hogg, “Social Categorization, Depersonalization and Group Behaviour,” in Blackwell Handbook of Social Psychology: Group Processes, ed. M. A. Hogg and R. S. Tindale (Oxford: Blackwell, 2001), 56-85.

Hogg, M. A. and B. A. Mullin, “Joining Groups to Reduce Uncertainty: Subjective Uncertainty Reduction and Group Identification,” in Social Identity and Social Cognition, ed. D. Abrams and M.A. Hogg (Oxford: Blackwell, 1999), 249-79.

Horrell, David G., “Models and Methods in Social-Scientific Interpretation: A Response to Philip Esler,” JSNT 78 (2000): 83-105.

Lieu, Judith M., Christian Identity in the Jewish and Graeco-Roman World (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).

Marques, J. M., D. Abrams, D. Paez, and M. A. Hogg, “Social Categorization, Social Identification and Rejection of Deviant Group Members,” in Blackwell Handbook of Social Psychology: Group Process, ed. M. A. Hogg and R. S. Tindale (Oxford: Blackwell, 2001), 402.

Sherif, M., “Superordinate Goals in the Reduction of Intergroup Conflict,” in Intergroup Relations: Essential Readings ed. D. Abrams and M.A. Hogg (Hove: Psychology Press, 2001), 64-70.

Son, Sang-Won (Aaron), Corporate Elements in Pauline Anthropology: A Study of Selected Terms, Idioms, and Concepts in the Light of Paul's Usage and Background (AnBib 148; Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 2001).

Tajfel, H. and J. C. Turner, “An Integrative Theory of Intergroup Conflict,” in The Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations, ed. W. G. Austin and S. Worchel (Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole, 1979), 33-47.

Turner, J. C., M. A. Hogg, J. Oakes, S. D. Reicher and R. L. Webb, Re-Discovering the Social Group: A Self-Categorization Theory (Oxford: Blackwell, 1987).