Role Author | Education University of Kent | |
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Name Alexandre Christoyannopoulos Books Tolstoy's Political Thought, Christian Anarchism: A Political Commentary on the Gospel (Abridged Edition) | ||
Alexandre J. M. E. Christoyannopoulos (born 1979) is a French–Greek author and politics lecturer. He currently lectures at Loughborough University, England. Christoyannopoulos graduated in Economics from the University of Kent in 2000, then went on to earn an MA in International Relations and European Studies and a PhD in Religious Studies and Politics from the same university. His books Religious Anarchism: New Perspectives and Christian Anarchism: A Political Commentary on the Gospel were the topics of his doctoral thesis.
Christian Anarchism cites Leo Tolstoy as its most notable proponent, but also includes references to Jacques Ellul, Vernard Eller, Dave Andrews, Michael C. Elliott, Nikolai Berdyaev, Adin Ballou, Petr Chelcicky, Dorothy Day, Peter Maurin and Ammon Hennacy. In the book Christoyannopoulos concludes the following about Christian anarchism and its place in political thought:
Christian anarchism does share a lot with Christian pacifism, but it goes further, especially by carrying this pacifism forward as implying a critique of the violent state. Christian anarchism also shares a lot with liberation theology especially its insistence that Christianity does have very real political implications. But Christian anarchism is critical of liberation theology's emphasis on human agency, of its compromise with violence, and its lack of New Testament references compared to Christian anarchism. In short, while related to at least two important trends within Christian political thinking, Christian anarchism is more radical than both, and thus provides a unique contribution to Christian political thought...It is a unique political theology, and a unique political theory.
In 2008, Christoyannopoulos founded Academics and Students Interested in Religious Anarchism (ASIRA) within the Anarchist Studies Network, a Political Studies Association specialist group.
In 2011, William Crawley interviewed Christoyannopoulos on BBC Radio Ulster. Crawley posed various questions including asking whether Jesus was an anarchist.