THE IVORY TOWER AND THE SWORD

How can one be interested in social justice without participating in public protests? Must one go to jail for ones convictions in order to have integrity and legitimacy? Have academics succumbed to the negative connotations of the ivory tower by remaining in their cubicles, unaware of the social ills that threaten the very core of society? Or, is it possible for individuals who sit comfortably at their desks to have legitimate input into the evils that surround the cities in which we live? These are some of the questions that prompted The Ivory Tower and the Sword. By turning our attention to Francisco Vitoria, Santiago Pinon offers insight into a thought-provoking individual who was deeply concerned with the social injustices that his countrymen were committing. Living in the sixteenth century, Vitoria knew of the torturous practices that his fellow Spaniards had been conducting against the native peoples of the New World. Using the influence of his position as an academic theologian, Vitoria challenged these practices and held the Spanish emperor accountable for failing to intervene on behalf of the native peoples. From Vitoria we learn how to confront social ills from the ivory tower. Not only does Pinon provide us with one of the most comprehensive analyses of Francisco Vitorias thoughts, but he also successfully retrieves the work of this scholastic theologian to demonstrate how to conduct constructive theology at the intersection of the political, the theological, and the legal, providing todays readers a new postcolonial understanding capable of addressing issues of justice. Bravo! --Miguel A. De La Torre, Professor of Social Ethics and Latino/a Studies, Iliff School of Theology Pinon weaves together a tightly argued and engaging historical recovery of the ivory tower influence of Francisco Vitorias philosophical humanism to model how contemporary scholars can and should fight for social justice with the power of the written word. The Ivory Tower and the