Kwok Pui-lan (, born 1952) is a

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

-born feminist theologian known for her work on Asian feminist theology and

postcolonial theology Postcolonial theology is the application of postcolonial criticism to Christian theology. As in postcolonial discourse, the term ''postcolonial'' is often used without a hyphen, denoting an intellectual reaction against the colonial. Backgrou ...

Academic life and career

Kwok was born in Hong Kong to Chinese parents who practiced

Chinese folk religion Chinese folk religion comprises a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. This includes the veneration of ''Shen (Chinese folk religion), shen'' ('spirits') and Chinese ancestor worship, ances ...

at home. She converted to Anglican Christianity when she was a

teenager Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated wi ...

. Kwok started her B.A. at the

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public university, public research university in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong. Established in 1963 as a federation of three university college, collegesChung Chi College, New Asia Coll ...

, before moving on to do her BD and MTh at Southeast Asia Graduate School of Theology. She gained her Th.D. from

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the religious studies, academic study of religion or for leadership role ...

, finishing her doctoral dissertation on "Chinese Women and Christianity" in 1989, later published through Scholars Press. She is the author of twenty books, including ''Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist Theology (2005)''. She has published in the disciplines of

feminist theology Feminist theology is a movement found in several religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Sikhism, Jainism, Neopaganism, Baháʼí Faith, Judaism, Islam, Christianity, and New Thought, to reconsider the traditions, practices, scri ...

and

biblical hermeneutics Biblical hermeneutics is the study of the principles of interpretation concerning the books of the Bible. It is part of the broader field of hermeneutics, which involves the study of principles of interpretation, both theory and methodology, fo ...

from her personal perspective as an Asian woman. From 1992 to 2017, Kwok was teaching at the Episcopal Divinity School in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

, and was appointed the William F. Cole Professor of Christian Theology and Spirituality. She has been employed at Candler School of Theology, first as a distinguished visiting professor of theology for the 2017–2018 and 2018–2019 academic years, then from 2020 to 2024 as the Dean's Professor of Theology. She was then re-appointed to Episcopal Divinity School, to serve as a Distinguished Scholar from January 2025 to December 2026. In 2011, Kwok was elected president of the

American Academy of Religion The American Academy of Religion (AAR) is the world's largest association of scholarly method, scholars in the List of academic disciplines, field of religious studies and related topics. It is a nonprofit member association, serving as a profess ...

. She writes, "as leaders, we have to bring the tribe along. Those of us who are pioneers have the responsibility of opening the door a little wider for others to come." Kwok was a recipient of the 2021 Lambeth Awards, under the category Lanfranc Award for Education and Scholarship, "for outstanding leadership and contribution to Asian Feminist and Post-Colonial Theology rooted in an Anglican ecclesiology".

Theology

Kwok argues that Asia has been transformed through

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

fare, religion, Western Christianity, and technology. Families and the role of women in society have been greatly shaped by "economic and political changes in the Asian countries which ultimately affect familial patterns, the status of women,

reproduction Reproduction (or procreation or breeding) is the biological process by which new individual organisms – "offspring" – are produced from their "parent" or parents. There are two forms of reproduction: Asexual reproduction, asexual and Sexual ...

and traditional

gender role A gender role, or sex role, is a social norm deemed appropriate or desirable for individuals based on their gender or sex. Gender roles are usually centered on conceptions of masculinity and femininity. The specifics regarding these gendered ...

s." Female labor in Asia is something that has been overlooked, as most "women are employed mostly in dead-end, low-skilled or semi-skilled manufacturing jobs, in

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...

or the service sector." In other words, women are considered the least within the Asian labor system. For Dr. Kwok Pui-lan, Christianity can create a new hope within the life of Asian women, but also needs to grapple with the

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is int ...

and

patriarchy Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of authority are primarily held by men. The term ''patriarchy'' is used both in anthropology to describe a family or clan controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males, and in fem ...

that is a part of the

moral A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. ...

tapestry and

organizational behavior Organizational behavior or organisational behaviour (see American and British English spelling differences, spelling differences) is the "study of human behavior in organizational settings, the interface between human behavior and the organiza ...

of Western Christianity. Writing in

, postcolonial criticism and

, Kwok has maintained as her identity as an Asian woman, incorporating it into her work. She explains:

As Asian Christian women, we have our own story, which is both Asian and Christian. We can only tell this story by developing a new hermeneutics: a hermeneutics of double suspicion and reclamation.

Kwok has engaged with

postcolonial Postcolonialism (also post-colonial theory) is the critical academic study of the cultural, political and economic consequences of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the impact of human control and extractivism, exploitation of colonized pe ...

theory in her work, most prominently in ''Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist Theology'', where she argues against the inadequacies of traditional feminist theology. She states that traditional

feminist theory Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, fictional, or Philosophy, philosophical discourse. It aims to understand the nature of gender inequality. It examines women's and men's Gender role, social roles, experiences, intere ...

has not sufficiently considered the experiences of

non-white The term "person of color" (: people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is associated with, the United States. From th ...

women, and the effects of

colonialism Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an Imperialism, imperialist project, colonialism c ...

neocolonialism Neocolonialism is the control by a state (usually, a former colonial power) over another nominally independent state (usually, a former colony) through indirect means. The term ''neocolonialism'' was first used after World War II to refer to ...

and

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

. She writes for the need to overcome the binary concept of gender, arguing for a more fluid interpretation of gender and the inclusion of

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

sexuality. She argues that "the most important contribution of postcolonial feminist theology will be to recapitulate the relation of theology and empire through the multiple lenses of gender, race, class, sexuality, religion, and so forth." The aim of her work is to create a theology that more accurately reflects the multiple levels of

oppression Oppression is malicious or unjust treatment of, or exercise of power over, a group of individuals, often in the form of governmental authority. Oppression may be overt or covert, depending on how it is practiced. No universally accepted model ...

that women in postcolonial contexts face. Kwok views God as organic, and places the belief in the context of the growing

ecological Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...

crisis in Asia. She also examines the concept of constructing a

Christology In Christianity, Christology is a branch of Christian theology, theology that concerns Jesus. Different denominations have different opinions on questions such as whether Jesus was human, divine, or both, and as a messiah what his role would b ...

using an organic model, referring to the multiple nature references Jesus uses to describe himself and his relationship with believers. Kwok advocates for the incorporation of

oral history Oral history is the collection and study of historical information from people, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people who pa ...

within theology, writing "we must allow the possibility of doing theology in poems, songs, stories, dances, rituals, and even lullabies." For Kwok, the

storytelling Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing narrative, stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatre, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cul ...

tradition within many Asian societies offers a rich resource for innovative ways of doing theology as women engage with

biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

stories through

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

and the sharing of life experiences.

Bibliography

Monographs

* * Kwok Pui-lan (1995). ''Discovering the Bible in the Non-Biblical World''. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books. ISBN 978-1592443499. * * * * *

Edited volumes

* . * * *

Writings about Kwok

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kwok, Pui-lan 1952 births Living people Alumni of the Chinese University of Hong Kong Women Christian theologians World Christianity scholars Harvard Divinity School alumni Academic staff of the Chinese University of Hong Kong American biblical scholars American theologians American Episcopal theologians American people of Chinese descent Converts to Anglicanism Christian feminist theologians Postcolonial theorists Political theologians Hong Kong Anglicans Hong Kong Protestant theologians Hong Kong emigrants to the United States