DIALOP at the EuARe in Rome June 2026

The European Academy of Religion is the major forum for academic research on religion and its relevance for society. It connects scholars, to promote research, to increase academic quality and to create awareness for the role of religion in the public square. 2026 theme is: Religions & inequalities.

For the second time – 2025 in Vienna – DIALOP will offer a workshop on July 3rd at 15:00 CET, which wants to follow-up the off-centered conference on HOPE in rough times, held last October 2025 among 7 different DIALOP local groups in the world.

The panel’s name this year will be:

“Against Inequalities and Structural Exploitation: Christian and Marxist Contributions to Social and Eschatological Hope”,  featured by members of DIALOP such as:

Declan Ο’ Byrne – Rector of the Sophia University Institute, Walter Baier – President of the European Left, Angelina Giannopoulou – facilitator at transform!europe and Isaac Stanley – sociocultural anthropologist. The panel will be chaired by José Manuel Pureza (President Bloco de Esquerda).
3 July, 15:00–17:10
Hall: Pola – A206b

Abstract
Social inequalities are not merely dysfunctions of a particular economic model, but rather constitutive features of the exploitation inherent in capitalism. Within liberation theology, these dynamics of exploitation have been conceptualised as structural sins, pointing to structural forms of injustice that exceed individual moral failure. The Gospel itself can be read as a prophetic cry against inequality, exploitation, & social injustice, one that nevertheless derives its transformative force from the promise of eschatological salvation. Marxism, on the other hand, has historically constituted a major intellectual and political project that identified exploitation as a defining feature of human history and argued that the abolition of inequalities presupposes the abolition of exploitative relations as such. The socialist utopia thus emerged as a horizon of collective hope, orienting struggles aimed at overturning the existing socio-economic order.