Social Justice and Solidarity in Amos Case Study of HIV in Kinshasa

Lobunda, Gustave (2012) Social Justice and Solidarity in Amos Case Study of HIV in Kinshasa. Licentiate thesis, The Catholic University of Eastern Africa.

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Abstract

Can the Ethics of Amos' social justice and solidarity be relevant in the contemporary context of HIV/AIDS stigmatization and discrimination? Existing literature on the book of Amos emphasises only social justice and present him as a prophet of social justice. Less attention has been made on the link between social justice and solidarity in Amos' writings. Furthermore, little has been said on the relevance and impact of Amos' Ethics of social justice and solidarity in the contemporary context of HIV/AIDS related stigmatisation. This study explores the link between social justice and solidarity in Amos' writings. From a case study of stigmatisation due to HIV/AIDS in Kinshasa, DRC, this study underlines that the social ethics of the prophet Amos may help one to appeal for social justice and for human rights of people who are infected and affected with HIV/AIDS; it demonstrates that the understanding of Amos on solidarity might help to reconstruct the social order, the social harmony broken by the presence of HIV/AIDS in the community. This survey thus assumes that the Amos' Ethics of social justice and solidarity is a useful way in addressing the crucial problem of stigmatisation and discrimination towards People Living with HIV/AIDS. This thesis is composed of four chapters. In the first chapter, the thesis deals with the HIV/AIDS related stigmatisation in Kinshasa, in DRC. The first point of this chapter explores the meaning of the main concepts of this research: stigma, stigmatisation, discrimination, social justice and solidarity. The second point presents the history of HIVIAIDS. The last deals with the result of the research fields in Kinshasa. The second chapter draws attention on the understanding of social justice and solidarity in the book of Amos. The first point of the second chapter introduces Amos, as a prophet of social justice in social context where the economical prosperity and poverty go side by side. It examines how Amos delivered to his people a message of social justice in which he denounces the miserable conditions of the poor and the oppressed. A careful, exact evaluation and judgment of Amos shows that he is not only a prophet of social justice. He is also a messenger of solidarity. And the second point presents Amos as a prophet of solidarity. Amos has been described as prophet of doom. But the last chapter of the book of Amos points out another characteristic of the prophet: he is interested in the reconstruction of the Kingdom of Israel and in the restoration of the social order. For this reason the last point of this chapter deals with the Amos' Ethics of reconstruction. The third chapter studies the understanding of social justice and solidarity in Social Teaching of the Church. This Social Teaching takes root in the message of both the prophet Amos and of Jesus. This is why the first point is about the Ethics of Jesus. The second treats the twin principles of autarkeia and koinonia in the social teaching of the Early Church Fathers. The last point concerns the understanding of social justice and solidarity in the modern social teaching of the Church. This survey affirms the relevance of the Ethics of Amos' social justice and solidarity in the contemporary context of HIV/AIDS stigmatization and discrimination. This thesis demonstrated the significance of the Ethics of Amos in the context of stigmatisation due to HIV/AIDS.

Item Type: Thesis (Licentiate)
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BR Christianity
Divisions: Comparative
Jesuitica
Depositing User: JHI Africa
Date Deposited: 30 Oct 2014 08:42
Last Modified: 13 Mar 2018 07:14
URI: http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/124

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