Soul Force and Social Transformation: Martin Luther King Jr. beyond Liberalism and Critical Race Theory

Abstract This article, prepared for the symposium, “Law, Christianity, Racial Justice: Shaping the Future,” puts Martin Luther King Jr.’s call for a “revolution in values” and radical change in prevailing political convictions within the context of contemporary liberal theory, liberal legal thought, and critical race theory. The author argues that Rawlsian political theory and liberal legal thought largely overlook the need to transform the underlying political convictions that are at the root of racial injustice. In contrast, as did King, critical race theory recognizes the importance of extra-legal attitudes in producing and sustaining injustice. But, in part because of its skepticism of objective truth, critical race theory does not cogently reveal how convictions can be changed. In contrast to both liberalism and critical race theory, King’s pastoral vocation, experiential approach to truth, and commitment to wielding nonviolent coercive power offers a promising path for fostering changes in existing political and moral convictions and thereby opens a path to wider social change, including structural change. Given the importance of the pastoral vocation to King’s work, the author concludes that scholarship at the intersection of Christianity, race, and the law might have its most practical impact in the hands of the pastorate.