“Add Teresa of Avila and Stir”—Why Adding Women Does Not End Exclusion Mechanisms in (Theological) Science

Abstract

Knowledge production is by no means neutral; it perpetuates existing presuppositions and exclusions. Within Catholic theology, this is accentuated by particular structures and institutions. In this article, I will show that exclusions are not changed by simply ‘adding women’. I will proceed in four steps: First, I will examine the epistemic preconditions of knowledge production. Second, I will highlight concrete examples that show how several factors can change our reconstruction of theological history. This section will be organized around gender understandings in the premodern/Reformation era. Third, I argue for a specific understanding of theology which can be understood as a commentary on the respective context. Finally, I will summarize the conclusions with a concrete example. This article is situated in the context of the theological debates in the German-speaking world, which has a particular set of conditions for academic theology, such as the inclusion of theological faculties at state universities. However, it can certainly offer epistemic insights into postcolonial and gender-critical debates on theological contexts that are relevant beyond this specific context. Moreover, the article makes the current debate accessible to non-German-speaking audiences and in this way seeks to close ‘data gaps’ in international scholarship.