The Monastic Cell as Utopian Niche: The Contribution of Religious Niches to Socio-Ecological Transformation

This article explores the extent to which Christian traditions, especially the monastic way of life, possess a transformative potential toward a socio-ecological society. Christian ideas are not unbroken utopias, but they possess an eschatological proviso based on God’s otherness. Neither is monastic life a prefiguration of the Kingdom of God, nor do Christians or the Church prefigure a heavenly society, but Christian action and religious communities can be regarded as forms of refigurative practice, which can fail again and again without losing hope. This article describes the relationship between niche and transformation, between monastic cell and utopia, as such a refigurative practice.