The Power of Mature Empathy
In Response to Sexual Violence in Faith Communities
- Ethics, Culture & Social Issues
- Publisher: Pickwick Publications (Wipf and Stock)
- Published: 2025
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Publisher's Description
Each day, approximately twenty-five thousand people die from hunger and related problems while on the other side of the globe people worry about how to reduce food waste. Looking at photos of children who are skin and bones, we wonder what is wrong, and how we can transform our polarized world into a just and caring one. This book finds one of the answers from the power of mature empathy, especially from communal empathy, drawing on psychology, ethics, and women's and gender studies. How can we stop the vicious circle of violence and hunger and make this world a better place? Looking into sexual violence cases in faith communities and the #MeToo movement as a case study, the author identifies dysfunctional, immature empathy as one of the culprits for tragedy in our world. Mature empathy will help us to arise and dismantle injustice together in solidarity by equipping us with compassion for those who suffer unjustly because of systemic evil. With mature empathizers trained to empathize even with total strangers, our society can imagine and be motivated to cultivate a world whose foundational value is mature empathy balanced with justice and care.
Endorsements (3)
“This is the ethics book that we need. Right now. When cynicism, disappointment, and even despair seem like the only responses to whether empathy is possible across our social differences, especially in digital venues, related to sexual violence, or supporting immigrant rights, The Power of Mature Empathy boldly and accessibly describes how communal empathy can be a powerful resource for solidarity and justice-seeking.”
“Creative and multidisciplinary approaches are necessary to uproot the pervasive nature of sexual violence and abuse. Dr. Lee does this brilliantly. She sifts through feminist care ethics, affect theory, and pastoral care to cull novel insights about empathy in service of communal movements to end sexual violence.”
“Drawing on the #MeToo movement and other experiences of victim-survivors of sexual abuse, Lee explores expressions of mature empathy in digital spaces, revealing that mature communal empathy, when embraced and fostered, has the potential to bridge gaps between self and other, dismantle unjust power structures, create solidarity, and contribute to a just, caring community. This is a must read for anyone who seeks to offer care that addresses the moral impact of emotions in the creation of justice.”
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