{"id":50263,"date":"2022-07-14T13:41:49","date_gmt":"2022-07-14T17:41:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sth\/?post_type=profile&p=50263"},"modified":"2026-10-30T14:55:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T18:55:11","slug":"james-mccarty","status":"publish","type":"profile","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sth\/profile\/james-mccarty\/","title":{"rendered":"James McCarty"},"content":{"rendered":"

James W. McCarty is an interdisciplinary scholar whose research sits at the intersections of Peace and Justice Studies and Christian Ethics. He researches the ethics of restorative justice, peacebuilding, and racial justice and human rights activism. He has also written about the theological ethics of Martin Luther King Jr. and Desmond Tutu and has published multiple essays on Asian American Christian Ethics. His writings have appeared in journals of theology, ethics, and law.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. McCarty teaches courses in conflict transformation, restorative justice, peacebuilding, and community organizing. And he administers the Certificate in Religion and Conflict Transformation in collaboration with the Boston Theological Interreligious Consortium. Prior to coming to BU, he held administrative and teaching positions at Emory University, Seattle University, and the University of Washington. He has won awards for his teaching and for building justice-focused university-community partnerships.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to his scholarship, Dr. McCarty has been a minister and has worked in congregational and campus ministries in Washington, Georgia, and California. He has also been a restorative justice, transformative justice, and conflict transformation practitioner in the United States and East Africa.<\/span><\/p>\n

Publications<\/h2>\n

Edited Books<\/h3>\n

The Business of Incarceration: Theological and Ethical Reflections on the Prison-Industrial Complex.\u00a0<\/em>Co-edited with Justin Bronson Barringer and Sarah F. Farmer. (Eugene: Cascade Books, 2025).<\/p>\n

The Business of War: Theological and Ethical Reflections on the Military-Industrial Complex.\u00a0<\/em>Co-edited with Mathew A. Tapie and Justin Bronson Barringer (Eugene: Cascade Books, 2020).<\/p>\n

Journal Articles and Book Chapters<\/h3>\n

\u201cRestorative <\/span>Justice,\u201d <\/span>St. Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology<\/em>, <\/span>Eds. <\/span>Brendan <\/span>N. <\/span>Wolfe <\/span>et <\/span>al. <\/span>(2026). <\/span>https:\/\/www.saet.ac.uk\/Christianity\/RestorativeJustice<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPrison-Industrial Complex Abolition and Transformative Justice: A Primer for Christians,\u201d with Johonna McCants-Turner, in The Business of Incarceration: Theological and Ethical Reflections on the Prison-Industrial Complex<\/em> (Cascade Books, 2025).<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom Service to Solidarity: On the (Im)Possibilities of Liberative Service-Learning,\u201d Religion & Education <\/em>51.1-2 (2024), 101\u2013119.<\/p>\n

\u201cDesmond Tutu\u2019s Spirituality of Protest,\u201d Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality<\/em> 24.1 (2024), 120-137.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Hope is a Discipline\u2019: Practicing Moral Imagination in Transformative Justice,\u201d\u00a0Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics<\/em>\u00a043.1 (2023), 129-147.<\/p>\n

\u201cBuilding Peace in a Violent Nation: A Kingian Response to the Interconnected Violence of Racism, Materialism, and Militarism.\u201d In The Business of War: Theological and Ethical Reflections on the Military-Industrial Complex<\/em> (Eugene: Cascade Books, 2020): 179-192.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Power of Hope in the Work of Justice: Christian Ethics after Despair,\u201d\u00a0Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics<\/em>\u00a040.1 (2020), 39-57.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Directions in International Justice,\u201d\u00a0Journal of Law and Religion<\/em>\u00a029.1 (2014), 197-205.<\/p>\n

\u201cA Paradoxical Theology of Biology: Desmond Tutu\u2019s Social Ethics in Light of His Sermon at Southwark Cathedral,\u201d\u00a0Theology and Sexuality\u00a0<\/em>19.1 (2013), 89-97.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Embrace of Justice: The Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Miroslav Volf, and the Ethics of Reconciliation,\u201d\u00a0Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics<\/em>\u00a033.2 (2013), 111-129.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Hybridized Public Sphere: Asian American Christian Ethics, Social Justice, and Public Discourse,\u201d with Keun-joo Christine Pae,\u00a0Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics<\/em>\u00a032.1 (2012), 93-114.<\/p>\n

\u201cNonviolent Law? Linking Nonviolent Social Change and Truth and Reconciliation Commissions,\u201d\u00a0West Virginia Law Review<\/em>\u00a0114.3 (2012), 969-1005.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the State is Evil: Biblical Civil (Dis)Obedience in South Africa,\u201d\u00a0with Joel A. Nichols,\u00a0St. John\u2019s Law Review<\/em>\u00a085.2 (2011), 593-625.<\/p>\n

Other Publications<\/h2>\n

\u201cRestorative Justice: A Global Movement to Transform Harm,\u201d Five digital lectures, Canopy Forum<\/em>, Emory University Center for the Study of Law and Religion: https:\/\/canopyforum.org\/restorative-justice\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cTransformative Justice is Resistance to the Military-Industrial Complex,\u201d\u00a0as part of symposium dedicated to\u00a0The Business of War<\/em>: \u00a0https:\/\/politicaltheology.com\/symposium\/reflections-on-the-business-of-war-theological-and-ethical-reflections-on-the-military-industrial-complex\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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