Abstract
The aim of this thesis was to suggest a model for a theology of relatedness based on black African migrant women’s lived experiences in Johannesburg. To this end, it provides a detailed account of thirteen such women’s experiences of relationships. All were members of Saint Aidan Anglican Church (SAAC), which is based in a predominately migrant area with many working-class residents. In the South African context, where xenophobia has impacted negatively on relationships between migrants and local communities, there was also a need to study the connections that migrants and local church members establish between themselves. Studying these from the perspective of the former contributes to ongoing discourses on the theology of migration as well as gender and religion studies. The experiences of migrant women were recorded through ethnographic fieldwork done over a period of ten months. During this time, I participated in a range of events that took place at the research site or were organised by the church. I attended church meetings, conducted interviews with the migrant women who took part in my research and had conversations with them on different occasions. It is through these interactions with my research site and research participants that the data were collected. The study mainly used ethnographic tools, influenced by African Women’s Theology (AWT). It consisted of data collection and analysis of the experiences of the relationships of the group who took part. Concepts of relatedness both from broader scholarship and AWT were used to design the theoretical framework of this study. The concept of relatedness, as it is understood from a psychological point of view, was used throughout this thesis to make sense of the kind of relationships that these women have established at the SAAC, while AWT was used as a scholarly worldview that shaped the theology of relatedness developed out of the analysis of these women’s experiences. This theology of relatedness suggests a bridge between a prayer life and real life which extends the theology of relations produced by AWT. In conclusion, I reflect on the three dual ethical values that every community demands (justice and reciprocity, compassion and solidarity, hospitality and mothering) in order to examine how the theology of relatedness that emerged from the analysis of migrant women with whom I spoke adds to AWT...
D.Litt. et Phil. (Biblical and Christian Studies)