ABSTRACT
World systems theory exacerbates the problems found in Liberation Theology's use of dependency theory. For Franz Hinkelammert, Liberation Theology must overcome not just an economic system but Western civilization as a whole. The causes of Liberation Theology's inability to fully meet the challenge posed by the contemporary global order are not just external, they are internal as well. By queering capitalism, Liberation Theology can open up a space for the imagination of alternative historical projects and thus recover the bite of its critique. Generic concepts such as liberation and capitalism hide as much as they reveal about the way life chances and social resources may be theoretically approached and institutionally realized. With the 'end of history' and the apparent triumph of neoliberal capitalism, the viability of revolutionary change seems to have vanished, but the necessity of such change remains.
