July 2026 WATERtalk with Kwok Pui-Lan and Mary E. Hunt

Follow-up to WATERtalk/ Faithful Provocations

“Global Feminism Today”

Kwok Pui-Lan and Mary E. Hunt in Open Conversation

Wednesday, July 15, 2026, 1 PM ET

WATER thanks Kwok Pui-Lan for joining us. We welcome in a special way her Kwok ‘n’ Roll Substack and Podcast colleagues to WATER via YouTube Livestream. 

WATER is a non-profit educational center and public charity in Silver Spring, MD, USA, that focuses on feminist work in religion. Since our founding in 1983, WATER builds a growing network of scholars, ministers, and activists around the world who are committed to engaging theological training and scholarship in the service of social change. We promote empowerment, justice, peace, and systemic change. WATER seeks to transform religious structures by strengthening women as religious agents and encouraging us to work for inclusive religious communities and an egalitarian future. 

The video of this session can be found at: https://youtu.be/cXs1UsfGurM 

The program began with a land acknowledgement, as is WATER’s custom, to keep us focused on why we do educational work for social change. Mei-Mei Sanford dedicated the session to Redemptorist Sister Paula Schmidt who died recently and supported such work. 

Mary E. Hunt introduced Kwok Pui-Lan for their conversation

Kwok Pui-Lan came to the U.S. from Hong Kong. Her family practiced Chinese religion and she became an Anglican in her teenage years. She did early studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and a doctorate at Harvard Divinity School focusing her writing on Chinese women and Christianity.

For nearly 30 years, she taught at Episcopal Divinity School and then at Candler School of Theology at Emory University. Then she returned to the new iteration of EDS where she serves as a Distinguished Scholar this year. More than twenty books later, she continues to be a prolific postcolonial scholar.

But this is just the tip of a very deep iceberg. Pui-lan was a distinguished Editor of the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion (JFSR), President of the American Academy of Religion, and a founding pioneer of the Pacific Asian and North American Asian Women in Theology and Ministry (PANAAWTM), an important sister group to WATER.  

Endlessly curious and creative, Pui-Lan has now taken the Internet by storm. She has taught herself much of what there is to know about utilizing A.I. for scholarship and activists. Her popular Podcast Kwok ‘n’ roll and her Substack are now go-to places for information, conversation, and connections. We are delighted that some of her readers/listeners are watching this session live on You Tube.

PROGRAM NOTES

Kwok Pui-Lan (KPL) welcomed her Kwok ‘n Roll colleagues. She mentioned the series, “Faithful Provocations,” that she and Mary (MEH) engaged in.  Mary’s Catholic work and her Anglican work included ecumenical efforts as well.  

She stated that some younger colleagues think feminism is passé. But she thinks the world controlled by China, Russia, and the U.S. needs feminist as well as queer, postcolonial, and other perspectives. 

Mary began with Pui-Lan’s recent article: “Translating Global Feminism: Can we build a global movement in our time?” https://kwokpuilan.substack.com/p/translating-global-feminism, 

MEH: This piece is characteristic of your work, Pui-Lan. You have captured and synthesized a lot of important theoretical information in a simple, straight-forward article which is easily understood. Your concentration on feminism in religion makes for a manageable focus. 

Is ‘global feminism’ a contradiction in terms, or a term that has been rendered outdated by the very efforts to broaden what was a very narrow base in the early years of the movement? Do we need to think instead of many feminisms that each have their own flavor and texture, and find ways to work together? I do not mean this as a semantic question, but as a strategic one. As a white, U.S., cis, educated woman I see the many ways in which feminism rooted in my culture has, however unintentionally, caused serious harm due to cultural imperialism, continued colonialism, and rampant racism. How do we move forward given this history?

KPL replied: “Sisterhood is global” was an early slogan that raised the question of who defines what is global. She began studying theology during the period around the time of the Cultural Revolution in China, 1966-76. She read Western women’s theology in light of that experience in the early 1970’s. Given what was happening in China, she could not relate to many of the issues western feminists were raising because of her experience in China. This means she experienced early feminist theology from a very different cultural background than others. 

This article reflects Pui-Lan’s recent experiences in Africa and Brasil with women who are not translating western feminism but developing their own. How can we understand each other across cultural, linguistic, religious, and other barriers? 

To Mary, Pui-Lan addressed the reality of living in a different language and how this sharpens understanding. MEH went to Latin America following doctoral studies thoroughly grounded in the U.S. experience. She taught in Argentina during the dictatorship in the early 1980s. The library at the seminary where she taught (ISEDET) was firebombed (presumably by the government because the seminary supported human rights). Mary developed a commitment to Latin America helped by thinking and speaking in another language. Most people in the U.S. are limited by the monolingual reality. Many people in other countries routinely deal with several languages, including Canadians who are often bilingual. 

Mary shared a story of Argentina. Women in the 1980s used to look to the U.S. for leadership on the issues like abortion. In the U.S., we are going backwards quickly here with the overturing of Roe and now the many states where abortion rights are truncated or absent. The women in Argentina have won abortion rights. They who looked to us for leadership are now our leaders. 

They made several strategic moves that secured abortion in that country (2021). We need to learn from them: 1. They went not to the big cities only, but to smaller cities and rural areas to educate and organize. 2. They chose green not purple as their color because they could get more green cloth—green for health and hope—and because green was not the color of any political party.  3. They made green scarves like the white ones the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo wore when they protested the disappearance of their children. The green scarves signaled a continuity with those struggles. Imagine if U.S. feminists took a hint from Argentine colleagues. 

KPL is asked why she does not lose hope in feminism and resistance movements. She described meeting Pentecostal women in Africa dealing with patriarchy in church and society. Indigenous women are exploring their own cultures. She underscored work of the women in Gaza for peace and justice. If they do not give up, we in the U.S. have no such luxury. 

She went on to inquire if MEH felt less hope than when Pui-Lan first came to the U.S. in 1980s. That was the start of different theological discourses including mujeristas like Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz and womanists, Delores Williams and Katie Geneva Cannon among others. What future do you see for feminist theology? 

MEH replied that feminist theology is an important, if small, piece of the agenda, because it makes a difference in what we think of as questions of ultimate meaning and value. Theology has changed, and backlash from White Christian Nationalism is something we did not count on that is shaping the agenda globally as it gets exported. Today, theology is a very different field—more ecumenical, spiritual not simply religious. Spiritual and cultural entrepreneurs work in concert with leader of major world religions that have no corner on the religious market. 

KPL laid out the need to debunk and challenge White Christian Nationalism which was so evident in the “America 250” celebrations. We should not think of a “nation” as unit; transnational awareness is important. It is not possible to go back and do feminist theology from nation-based starting points. 

MEH said that non-violent struggle is key. Stopping violence against our children is a throughline especially pointed out by womanist theology where survival and not rights is key. Note that there were no women at the table in the U.S.-China Summit. U.S. Secretary of State Pete Hegseth has systematically eliminated women and people of color from the lists of those military leaders to be considered for promotion. Backlash against women in general creates space for wars. 

Conversation:

1. A colleague from Ireland asked about working from an interfaith perspective rather than from one religious tradition, noting that it is hard to do. She also lifted up women’s environmental commitments as a unifying force especially for indigenous women. She remarked on the experience of women in Northern Ireland who sustain life in the midst of death with ordinary life being the heart of the matter. 

MEH mentioned the mujerista theologian Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz for whom “lo cotidiano,” daily life was foundational to her theology. See https://repository.usfca.edu/jhlt/vol10/iss1/1/ .

2. A German/U.S. colleague spoke of her experience in the Philippines where most people think about survival and have no time to think about larger questions. She also noted that Tagalog/Filipino is a non-gendered language; how different a phrase like “In the beginning was the Word” sounds in that language. She concluded that nuclear weapons are the worst form of violence and render much violence invisible in industrialized countries. 
3. A U.S. colleague praised the experience of feminist theological colleagues working on hard issues over a long period of time. She underscored the importance of radical acceptance of difference, and the fact of many indigenous groups being governed by women. See Resources below for her suggestions. 
4. KPL pointed out that we must address violence that we do to ourselves and  resist that. To tackle violence in the world, we need the chi to resist it in our own lives. For example, she resists the traditional American diet that is high in sugar and salt. There is also a need to resist depression and hopelessness. Macro and micro levels of violence exist. There is a need for daily practices to resist and to avoid burn out. This can lead to the energy to feel suffering of others. Replenishing our chi is crucial. There are many practices to “keep on keeping on.”

MEH named this as making the private political. For example, taking vacation, becoming vegan/vegetarian. Mary’s resistance is to bang pan lids every night on her porch (an old non-violent tradition from the 1830’s in France) to protest the presence of the armed National Guard in Washington, DC. Something is so radically wrong that we have to recognize it every day.

5. One participant said she was grateful for “baby practices,” small steps to make change. Christians believe in alternatives to the current injustices. 
6. A resident of Philadelphia spoke of the local struggle there about how to describe the house where George Washington lived given that he had slaves in his house. She described that the local situation can be quite different from what we expect, in this case backlash against efforts to tell the whole story. 
7. MEH asked Pui-Lan if there is any rise in male feminists, any efforts to get men involved in our work. Are there men who are engaged in this work like white allies are with people of color? Does “Translating Global Feminism: Can we build a global movement in our time?” include adding more men and non-binary people to the ranks of those who identify as feminists? And if so, where do you see it, Pui-Lan? Could working with men be a part of the risk-taking to which you refer in your final question in your article? 

KPL After decades in the field, she sees many male colleagues who introduce feminist theologies. The coming generation may not be stuck in the old patterns. One colleague is working on toxic masculinity in Korea where the practice is attracting young people. KPL is cautiously optimistic but sees a great deal of work needing to be done. 

MEH said that studies show that young white Christian men participating more in church circles than young white Christian women, this for the first time in U.S. history. Women leave religions with children and checkbooks. Now men take over that space often filling it with white Christian nationalism.  

8. A British colleague added a reference to the positive work in the UK on “composting masculinity.” 
9. Creative eldering is important for those who bring lots of experience to the conversation. Gloria Steinem was asked by young woman to pass her torch. Gloria made clear that she was not finished with it yet, but that she would give the young woman a light.
10. The advice to cut back on certain substances, television, and the like struck one person as sage. The question of hope is in tension with resistance and resilience.

KPL cited Miguel A. de la Torre who wrote a book entitled Embracing Hopelessness (Fortress Press, 2017). Those with the privilege to be hopeful need to hear the voices of those who are hopeless. Examples of struggle include the women victims of Jeffry Epstein and those living in Sudan. 

KPL stated that we need to have a wide range of emotions, including feeling hopeless. We do not have to be happy and young all the time. Being hopeless at times means dealing with the reality of life. Too much Christian theology in the U.S. can suppress those many feelings which people in other contexts learn to express.  

11. A participant said she had never met a hopeless indigenous woman because of their relationship to the environment including healing with beauty. 

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Thank you to all who joined in this experimental conversation, “A Faithful Provocation about Global Feminism Today.” Special thanks to Kwok Piu-Lan for the very useful article that launched this conversation and to Wed Naji and Magdalena Müller for tech support. WATERtalks will resume in the Fall of 2026. 

Suggested Resources:

1. Community-Based Global Learning Collaborative https://www.cbglcollab.org/.

2. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/declaring-interdependence-a-gathering-for-the-250th-tickets-1990529062008.  contact@revolutionaryloveproject.com.
3. Gibson-Graham, J.K. & Dombroski, K. The Handbook of Diverse Economies. Cheltenham, UK: Edgar Elgar, 2020.
4. Barreiro, Jose, Editor. American Indigenous Democracy: A Call for Interdependence. Guani Press, 2026. 
5. Steady, Filomina Chioma, Women and Leadership in West Africa: Mothering the Nation and Humanizing the State, Palgrave Macmillian, 2011.
6. Du Mez, Kristen Kobes, Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation. Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2020.
7. Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan, Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logical of Nonviolent Conflict. Columbia University Press 2011.
8. Kwok ‘n Roll. https://kwoknroll.podbean.com/. See link there to her You Tube channel.