Christopher Craig Brittain is Senior Lecturer in Practical Theology at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. His primary research interest is in contemporary Christianity, which he explores from a variety of differing perspectives and concerns.
  
At the theoretical level,he is interested in the ongoing debates within Christian theology over how Christian churches relate externally to the communities outside them—both in their secular and multi-faith varieties. He approaches this question by analysing the theological writing of key contemporary theologians who wrestle with these issues (e.g. John Milbank, Latin American liberation theology, William Cavanaugh), as well as influential non-Christian theorists on the same general concerns (e.g. Talal Asad, William Connolly, Seyla Benhabib, Jeffrey Stout). He has published critical articles on Milbank and Asad, and continues to research the concepts of "secularism" and "political theology" in depth.  

At the sociological level, he studies how the tensions inherent to contemporary social and political life impact on the internal dynamics of Christian communities. This element of this research activity is intent on analysing the differing ways in which Christian communities respond to the challenges emerging within their specific contexts, as well as to the ways in which these same communities react to, or cope with, the pressures of being shaped by their environment. In pursuit of such questions, he has published an article analysing theological debates over homosexuality in the Anglican Communion ("Confession Obsession"), and is now engaged in a series of field research projects to deepen this analysis of the experience of contemporary Anglican congregations and individuals. He has written two articles for publication on this research with a sociologist in Aberdeen (Dr. Andrew McKinnon) and hastwo individual articles planned for 2011. He and Dr. McKinnon and intend to begin work on a monograph on the dispute in the Anglican Communion in the near future.  

At the cultural level, he is interested in the complicated dynamics involved in Christian responses to human tragedy and historical traumas (and those of other religious groups more generally). Numerous contemporary social theorists and theologians are alert to the fact that, in a context shaped by globalization and political terrorism, religion as a social and political phenomenon is often interwoven with nationalism, ideology, and violence. These issues have historically had a major impact and influence on Christian thought and practice. He recently completed a monograph entitled, Religion at Ground Zero, which explores the impact of historical trauma on Christian thought. It analyzes reactions to disasters that range from the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, the First World War, the Holocaust, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the Haitian earthquake of 2010.  

Brittain’s methodological approach is informed by the early writings of the "Frankfurt School," particularly those of Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer. Their attempt to develop an interdisciplinary form of social theory — which brings together social scientific empirical research (qualitative and quantitative), philosophy, psychology, and moral engagement with current social problems — continues to represent a rich perspective with which to approach the study of contemporary Christianity. For this reason, he has published work on a neglected area in the scholarly literature on the thought of the Frankfurt School – their interest in religion. This has taken the form of some individual articles, and a monograph: Adorno and Theology. The three inter-related approaches to contemporary Christianity (theoretical, sociological, cultural) enable him to explore some deep and influential dynamics within Christianity in particular, and religion more generally.


Selected Publications:

  Monographs




Religion at Ground Zero: Theological Responses to Times of Crisis (Continuum, 2011)





 



Adorno and Theology (T&T Clark, 2010)




 




The Weight of Objectivity: Critical Social Theory and Theology (LAP Lambert, 2010)






  Edited Books




(with Francesca Murphy) Theology. University, Humanities: Initium Sapientiae Timor Dominum (Wipf & Stock, 2011)  






Journal Articles  

Bourdieu, Capital and Conflict in a Religious Field: The Case of the Anglican Communion?, Journal of Contemporary Religion (with Andrew McKinnon & Marta Trzebiatowska) (forthcoming, 2011).  

Homosexuality and the Construction of ?Anglican Orthodoxy: The Symbolic Politics of the Anglican Communion, Sociology of Religion (Jan 2011), 1-23 (with Andrew McKinnon).  

Political Theology at a Standstill: Messianism in Adorno and Agamben, Thesis Eleven 102.1 (August 2010), 39-56.   

Confession Obsession: Cored Doctrine and the Anxieties of Anglican Theology, Anglican Theological Review vol. 90.4 (2008), 777-799.  

Can a Theology Student be an Evil Genius? on the concept of habitus in theological Education, Scottish Journal of Theology, vol 60.4 (2007), 426-440. (* reprinted in Toronto Journal of Theology in 2009).  

The Secular as a Tragic Category: On Talal Asad, Religion and Representation, Method and Theory in the Study of Religion, vol 17.2 (2005), 149-165.  

Social Theory and the Premise of all Criticism: Max Horkheimer on Religion, Critical Sociology 31.2 (Spring 2005), 153-168.  

Chapters in Books

Between Necessity and Possibility: Kierkegaard and the abilities and disabilities of the Subject. In: Disability in the Christian Tradition, eds. Brian Brock and John Swinton (forthcoming Eerdmans 2011).  

Ethnography as Ecclesial Attentiveness and Critical Reflexivity: fieldwork and the dispute over homosexuality in The Episcopal Church. In: Church and Culture: A ReaderStudies in Ecclesiology and Ethnography, Vol. 2, ed. Christian Scharen (Eerdmans, forthcoming 2011).  

Against Eschatological Overdetermination: on Theology and Sociology. In: Theology, University, Humanities: Inititium Sapientiae Timor Dominum, eds,. Christopher Brittain & Francesca Murphy (forthcoming, Wipf & Stock, 2011).  

Initium Sapientiae Timor Alius and the Constituents of the University. In: Theology, University, Humanities: Inititium Sapientiae Timor Dominum, Christopher Brittain & Francesca Murphy (eds) (forthcoming, Wipf & Stock, 2011).

From A Beautiful Mind to the Beautiful Soul: Rational Choice, Religion, and Adorno. In: Marx, Critical Theory, and Religion: A Critique of Rational Choice,ed. Warren S. Goldstein (Leiden, Boston: Brill Publishers, 2006), 151-177.

Subjective Destitution and the Postmodern Saint: A Reply to Slavoj Zizek's interpretation of Breaking the Waves. In: Hybrid Spaces: Theory, Culture, Economy, Johannes Angermueller, Katharina Bunzmann, Christina Rauch (eds). (New York: Transaction/ Hamburg: LIT, 2000), 137-148.  

Miming the Crucifixion: Irigaray's Mimicry and the Power of Religious Language. In: PostModerne Diskurse zwischen Sprache und Macht, Johannes Angermueller & Martin Nonhoff (eds). (Hamburg: Argument Verlag, 1999), 90-100.  

Review Essays  

Biopolitics in the Messianic Light: On Giorgio Agamben, Radical Philosophy Review, vol. 10.2 (2007), 179-191.  

A Messiah for Marxism? Slavoj Zizek's The Fragile Absolute?, Dialogue and Review Essay (with Kenneth G. MacKendrick). Radical Philosophy Review, vol. 6.1(2003), 45-52.