Clamo Ergo Sum: Establishing a Fundamental Right to Protest from Christian Theologies of Liberation

Abstract

The prevailing particular historical narratives that established the modern rights system greatly affect the participation, tenor, and limits of rights discourse today, too often ignoring or suppressing voices of those suffering or silenced. This essay is a contribution to the subversion of those histories, adverting to inconsistencies, in particular histories of modern rights, the need to amplify the voices of those suffering on the margins of that history, and the dangerous consequences if we fail to do so. By applying Enrique Dussel’s political philosophy and Gustavo Gutiérrez’s theology of liberation significant contributions can be made toward affirming a fundamental right to protest. The right to protest articulates a right co-foundational with the rights to life, liberty, and property, and this right is well grounded in a Christian account of the dignity of the human person.

Keywords

• protest
• rights
• Enrique Dussel
• Gustavo Gutiérrez
• modernity
• liberation theology