Kenarchy Volume 8.5 – The Kenarchy Journal

Kenarchy Journal: Kenarchy and Power, 2026, Volume 8

Girardian Perspectives on Power and Kenarchy in the Apocalyptic Age

Author:
Andre Rabe

Abstract

There was a time when we could veil our violence as sacred, uniting our society against a demonic other. That epoch has come to an end, for the aura of religiously justified violence has been eroded beyond repair. Our sacrifices and myths no longer have the magical power to unite our communities. We are no longer fully convinced of the guilt of our victims, the innocence of our community, or the divine inspiration of our myths. As a desperate last resort, we may multiply our sacred sacrifices and flood our communities with bewildering narratives, but the miracle of unanimous condemnation of an evil other escapes us. Our accusatory narratives only serve to further divide us and energize an escalation toward extremes.

According to René Girard’s anthropological insights, archaic human society was founded upon the magical efficacy of sacred violence, where communal unity was achieved through the expulsion of a demonic other. The transformation of primal, uncontrolled violence into ritualized sacrifice marked the very genesis of civilization and religion. Warriors became worshippers, and savages became civilized through this process. However, it’s not only in the birth of cultures that violence shapes our humanity, but in their disintegration also, as worshippers are tempted to become warriors once again.

As a critical framework, Girard’s mimetic theory has become indispensable for analyzing contemporary acts of violence, yet popular analytical readings often miss the theory’s profound historical trajectory. This study argues that the power of archaic structures was fatally wounded by a seed of awareness planted in human consciousness through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. The Christian revelation unveils sacred violence; we can no longer be unconscious of what we do. The historic trajectory of mimetic realism—from an unconscious concealed event of violence, becoming ritual, developing into religion and culture, complemented by sacred narrative (myth), culminating in its exposure by Christ—has stripped archaic power structures of their efficacy, limiting humanity to an apocalyptic choice between self-destruction (profane violence) and the kenotic imitation of Christ.

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62950/vsrto85

Pages 50-62

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About Kenarchy

While kenarchy is a gift for everybody, those of us who configure the politics of love in these terms are strongly motivated to do so in a way that deeply penetrates existing socially constructed mind-sets. This is why we combine applied academic research and writing together with grassroots social, economic and political activism. Kenarchy developed initially as a form of political theology and we make no apology for that, but it now embraces a wide and interdisciplinary perspective relevant to the politics and theology of love. The purpose of this Journal is to advance the applied research, and as such, it is an academic journal.

Lead Editor:

Roger Haydon Mitchell, PhD, theologian and activist, honorary researcher in the Lancaster University Centre for Alternatives to Social and Economic Inequalities, and political theologian with the Westminster Theological Centre

Associate Editors:

Sue Mitchell, MSc – co-facilitator for the Morecambe Bay Poverty Truth Commission, leading conversations between people with lived experience of poverty and decision makers, towards a new sociality

Bradley Jersak, PhD – (BradJersak.com) is the editor of CWRmagazine and Clarion-Journal.com, Principal & Director of Theology & Culture, at St. Stephen’s University

Andrew Klager, PhD – Provost & Vice-Chancellor, Professor of Religion and Peace Studies, Director of the Jim Forest Institute for Religion, Peace and Justice, St. Stephen’s University, Canada

Publishing Team:

Mike Winter, PhD
Martin Scott

In order to undergird the academic quality and scope of the Journal we are delighted that the following have agreed to be academic advisors to the lead editor and team.

Academic Advisors:

Linda Woodhead MBE DD FAcSS is FD Maurice Professor and Head of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at King’s College London

Professor Maggi Dawn, MA, PhD (Cantab), CCTM, APRS, APSE, Principal, St Mary’s College, Durham University, UK

Professor Anthony Reddie, Extraordinary Professor of Theological Ethics at the University of South Africa and Director of The Oxford Centre for Religion and Culture, Regent’s Park College, University of Oxford

Thomas Jay Oord, PhD, Director, Doctoral Program at Northwind Theological Seminary/C4ORT, Director, Center for Open and Relational Theology

Timothy Stacey, PhD, Lecturer in Religious Studies, Leiden University, The Netherlands, Co-Founder and Co-Director, AltVisions, Co-Founder and Co-Director, Lived Religion Project

Submissions to the Journal

Submissions are welcomed from a wide and interdisciplinary perspective relevant to the politics and theology of love. Initial submissions must include at least a 250 word abstract and a brief outline. Please state your full name, your applied research field and any other information you deem relevant. Full submissions from now on should be in the region of 3,000-10,000 words and be in accordance with our Chicago “notes and bibliography” in-house style. Longer articles will be accepted at the discretion of the editors. All full submissions will be double peer reviewed before acceptance for publication.

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The Kenarchy Journal (ISSN: 2976-6001) is published in Lancaster UK by 2MT, Charity registration number: 1069653.