Ergasia

Episode 20 – Hard Work Never Killed Anyone, Part II: Idolatry’s Bitter Fruit, Silencing Suffering and Injustice

In this episode of Ergasia, we continue the exploration of the book  Hard Work Never Killed Anyone: How the Idolisation of Work Sustains this Deadly Lie by John Bottomley, published by Morning Star Publishing in 2015.What is the true relationship between work and humanity? What are the hidden truths disclosed by the silence cast by the ideology of work on the suffering and injustice manifest in work-related harm? How has the ideology of work become idolatrous? These are the questions we will explore as we continue our exploration of this text and its examination of modernity's construction of work and economy.
References
Hard Work Never Killed Anyone: How the Idolisation of Work Sustains this Deadly Lie. Northcote: Morning Star Publishing, 2015.

Episode 19 - Hard Work Never Killed Anybody, Part I: Subduing Death, Modernity‘s Heroic Intent

In this episode of Ergasia, we begin an exploration of the book Hard Work Never Killed Anybody: How the Idolisation of Work Sustains this Deadly Lie, by John Bottomley, published by Morning Star Publishing in 2015. What are the beliefs that underpin modernity's construction of work and economy? How did these beliefs come into being? What is the role of ideology in this process? How are modernity's beliefs about work and what constitutes the legitimate spheres for the expression of human emotion sustained? These are the questions we explore as we start this new series.
References
Bottomley, John Hard Work Never Killed Anyone: How the Idolisation of Work Sustains this Deadly Lie. Northcote: Morning Star Publishing, 2015.

Ergasia Special Episode No.3: A Statement of Intent

In this episode of Ergasia Special, your host, Brendan Byrne, sets out his vision for the podcast as he continues to explore the intersection of faith and work. What are the essential elements which a theology of work must contain in order to be properly Christian? What are the traps and pitfalls it must avoid? What, afterall, is the point and purpose of this podcast and the issues it explores?
References
Bloomquist, Karen L The Dream Betrayed: Religious Challenge of the Working Class. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1990.
Byrne, Brendan E., "Work and Faith: the prophetic imperative. A response to Graham Hooper". Engage.Mail, Ethos Centre for Christianity and Society, located at http://www.ethos.org.au/online-resources/Engage-Mail/work-and-faith-the-prophetic-imperative
 

Episode 18 - The Dream Betrayed, Part VI: The Church As Community of Justice

In this episode of Ergasia, we conclude our exploration of the book The Dream Betrayed: Religious Challenge of the Working Class by Lutheran scholar Karen L Bloomquist. Having taken us through the dilemma faced by the working class under the oppressive reign of neoliberalism, and having likewise identified both the sin lying at the heart of that oppression as well as the Church's contribution to the betrayal of working class hopes, Bloomquist issues a call to the Church to become a community of resistance that enables the structural injustices of corporatist capitalism to be identified, challenged, and transformed.
References
Bloomquist, Karen L., The Dream Betrayed: Religious Challenge of the Working Class. Minneapolis; Fortress Press, 1990 

Episode 17 - The Dream Betrayed Part V: Redeeming Working Class Reality

In this episode of Ergasia we continue our exploration of the book The Dream Betrayed: Religious Challenge of the Working Class by Lutheran scholar Karen L Bloomquist. In this episode, Bloomquist considers the question of how the Church can proclaim the Gospel of God's redemption in way that takes into account the reality of working class oppression, and which empowers the working class to resist the structures of domination and injustice by which their lives are controlled.
References
The Dream Betrayed: Religious Challenge of the Working Class. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1990.

Episode 16: The Dream Betrayed, Part IV: The Dominance of Sin

In this episode of Ergasia, we continue our exploration of the book The Dream Betrayed: Religious Challenge of the Working Class by Karen L Bloomquist, published by Fortress Press. Bloomquist asks: what are the ways in which sin manifests itself in the structures of dominance and control that enslave working class life? How are these structures upheld by our conceptions of what sin is? And what is the relevance of the Gospel proclamation of grace, both to the realities of working class life and as a mechanism for liberation?
References
Bloomquist, Karen L The Dream Betrayed: Religious Challenge of the Working Class. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1990.

Ergasia Special Episode No.2 - Conversation With A Quaker, Part 3

In this episode of Ergasia Special, your host Brendan Byrne concludes his conversation with trade unionist Chris Hughes. Together, they explore how the privatisation of faith and the withdrawal of the church from the world of work might be reversed in order to both articulate the Good News of the Gospel and discern what an alternate future to the status quo might look like.

Ergasia Special Episode No.2 - Conversation With A Quaker, Part 2

In this second installment of Ergasia Special Episode No.2, the host of Ergasia, Brendan Byrne, continues his conversation with Australian trade unionist Chris Hughes. How does the relationship between religious faith and organised labour operate? Where are its synergies and frictions? And what is the future for both unionism and the church in an ever-changing world?

Ergasia Special Episode No.2 - Conversation With A Quaker, Part 1

In this Ergasia Special episode, your host, Brendan Byrne, speaks with an Australian trade unionist from a Quaker background about faith, work, and how being a Christian and a labour activist do - and sometimes don't - go together. 

Episode 15 - The Dream Betrayed, Part III: Theological Perspectives For Addressing Class Realities

In this epsode of Ergasia, we continue our exploration of the book The Dream Betrayed: Religious Challenge of the Working Class by Karen L Bloomquist (Fortress Press, 1990). What are the theological perspectives that have attempted to address the realities of modernity and the dilemma of the working class? Is it even possible for theology to successfuly undertake this project? What are the counterveiling declarations about human life which are made by the idolatrous ideology of modernity?
References
Bloomquist, Karen L The Dream Betrayed: Religious Challenge of the Working Class. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1990.