How can a theological understanding of liberation better inform and improve the development work of faith-based organisations and churches in Chin Sta

我的博士研究旨在从缅甸西北部钦邦的佐米女性的立场来批评亚洲女权主义神学。作为一个跨学科的项目，我将人种学与神学相结合，以期建立一个佐米妇女神学。佐米人是缅甸钦邦的一个以基督教为主的少数民族，与缅甸联邦佛教国家存在着危险的紧张关系。大约85%的Zomi人认为自己是基督徒，这使他们成为缅甸最大的基督教少数民族。钦邦的贫困率为73%，也是该国最贫穷的地区。地形复杂，基础设施差，民族宗教关系不稳定，进一步制约了该地区的发展。Zomi女性在社会中处于二等地位，通过社会机构、规范和文化价值观得到加强。严格的性别角色将妇女限制在家务和照料职责上，她们往往被排除在决策之外。女孩的受教育程度大大低于男孩，显示出优先考虑男性、限制女性的性别等级制度。尽管一些女性确实追求职业，但社会期望意味着她们在从事有偿工作的同时，仍然承担着所有的家务劳动。不幸的是，这种性别不平等也通过教学和实践在教会中重复出现。亚洲女权主义神学阐明了基督教的思维方式，以解决亚洲妇女面临的具体问题。亚洲女权主义神学家把亚洲女性的生活和经历作为她们神学的基础，在性质上是背景的，在目的上是解放的。她们的故事与当地的习俗以及对圣经和教义的新理解交织在一起，形成了一种专为亚洲女性服务和来自亚洲女性的神学。占主导地位的亚洲女权主义神学家分布在韩国、香港、菲律宾和印度，到目前为止，还没有来自佐米背景的亚洲女权主义神学。亚洲女权主义神学的高度情境化性质阻碍了它在不同国家和文化之间的轻松翻译。韩国、菲律宾和缅甸等国之间在经济、社会和宗教方面的显著差异等因素揭示了僵尸女性神学的必要性。其他需要密切分析的关键问题包括国家和Zomi人之间的民族宗教紧张关系，以及钦邦的严重贫困，所有这些无疑都影响了Zomi妇女与神的联系方式。我的研究将深入探索基督教佐米女性的神学和信仰生活。我感兴趣的是，在这样的背景下，生活如何塑造了他们理解和体验信仰的方式。我的项目将为亚洲女权主义神学提供建设性的建议，使其与佐米女性的生活经历相联系，从而使基督教亚洲女性仍然感到振奋和解放。关于这一主题的文献缺乏，以及佐米文化中强大的口头传统，需要使用社会科学方法。我将在钦邦进行为期6-8个月的实地考察。我结合了参与者观察、一对一访谈和小焦点小组，旨在揭示佐米女性的神学反思，并了解她们的信仰如何帮助她们驾驭缅甸最不发达地区的生活。然后，我在这一领域的发现将与亚洲女权主义神学家的作品进行对话，以评估主流亚洲女权主义神学对佐米背景的相关性和适用性。我的研究将是第一次将长期被忽视的贫穷、被边缘化的僵尸女性的想法和故事赋予特权。它还将促进关于缅甸基督教和缅甸少数民族的学术研究，强调在民族-宗教紧张、大规模贫困和不平等的背景下，信仰、民族主义和身份认同之间相互作用的性别性质。

My PhD research aims to critique Asian feminist theology from the standpoint of Zomi women in Chin State, north-west Myanmar. An interdisciplinary project, I combine ethnography with theology in order to move towards the construction of a Zomi women's theology.The Zomi are a predominantly Christian ethnic minority in Chin State, Myanmar, existing in precarious tension with the federal Burmese-Buddhist state. Approximately 85% of the Zomi identify as Christian, making them Myanmar's largest Christian ethnic minority. With a poverty rate of 73%, Chin State is also the poorest region in the country. Difficult terrain, poor infrastructure, and unstable ethnoreligious relations further inhibit the region's development. Zomi women occupy a second-class position in society, reinforced through social institutions, norms, and cultural values. Strict gender roles confine women to domestic and caring duties and they are often excluded from decision-making. Schooling levels for girls are substantially lower than boys, revealing a gender hierarchy that prioritises men and limits women. Although some women do pursue vocations, societal expectations mean they still undertake all domestic labour alongside their paid work. This gender inequality is also unfortunately replicated in the churches through teaching and practice. Asian feminist theology articulates Christian ways of thinking to address the specific issues faced by Asian women. Contextual in nature and liberative in aim, Asian feminist theologians privilege the lives and experiences of Asian women as foundational to their theology. Their stories are woven together with indigenous practices and new understandings of Scripture and doctrine, resulting in a theology uniquely for and from Asian women. The dominant Asian feminist theologians are situated in South Korea, Hong Kong, the Philippines and India and, thus far, there is no Asian feminist theology from the Zomi context. The highly contextualised nature of Asian feminist theology prevents it from being easily translated across countries and cultures. Factors such as the significant economic, social and religious differences between countries like South Korea, the Philippines, and Myanmar, reveal the need for a Zomi women's theology. Other critical issues demanding close analysis include the ethnoreligious tensions between the state and the Zomi and the severe poverty in Chin State which all undoubtedly impact the way Zomi women relate to the divine. My research will explore in-depth the theologies and faith lives of Christian Zomi women. I am interested in discovering how life in this context has shaped the ways in which they understand and experience their faith. My project will offer constructive proposals for Asian feminist theology to be contextualised for the lived experiences of Zomi women in order that it remains uplifting and liberating for Christian Asian women.The absence of literature on the topic and the strong oral tradition in Zomi culture necessitate the use of social-scientific methodologies. I will undertake 6-8 months of fieldwork in Chin State. Using a combination of participant observation, one-to-one interviews and small focus groups, I aim to uncover the theological reflections of Zomi women and learn how their faith helps them navigate life in the most undeveloped region of Myanmar. My findings from the field will then be brought into conversation with the works of Asian feminist theologians in order to assess the relevance and applicability of mainstream Asian feminist theology to the Zomi context. My research will be the first to privilege the thoughts and stories of poor, marginalised Zomi women who have long been overlooked. It will also contribute to the scholarship on Christianity in Myanmar, and minority peoples in Myanmar, highlighting the gendered nature of the interplay between faith, nationalism, and identity within a context of ethnoreligious tension, mass poverty, and inequality.