Graduation Year

2025

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Religious Studies

Second Department

Organizational Studies

Reader 1

Luis Salés

Reader 2

Erin Runions

Reader 3

Barbara Junisbai

Rights Information

2025 Lucy R Waggoner-Wu

Abstract

Framed by Gloria E. Anzaldúa’s concept of ‘spiritual activism’ and the conversations about love, justice, and spirituality I recorded this year, I will explore lineages of radical social change that emphasize love and spirituality. Love and spirituality are often minimized in both social justice (i.e., movement) and academic spaces, despite being central in the lives and therefore everyday practice of many people – particularly those who are women, queer, of color, and/or Indigenous. In conversations with people I admire who are doing work for communal and systemic change, I sought to trace how people’s “conocimiento” (spiritual awareness) of their interconnection with others deepened their commitment to social justice and broadened their solidarity. This thesis is a container to explore those stories in detail and draw out the traditions and contested histories that shape them. I show that love and spirituality are critical to how many people mobilize themselves towards, imagine, and practice justice.

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This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.

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