Abraham: The Utopia of Migration, Resilience, and the Search for Liberation

Abstract

This article examines the story of Abraham as an account of a resilient migrant in search of freedom. It begins by looking at the reality of especially internal migration in contemporary Brazil, with the challenges that presents and the need for resilience that is a part of it. It argues that there is always a utopic dimension to migration, a move to a place that it is hoped will be in some way better, but also a journey to somewhere that does not ever quite exist in the way the migrant desires. It then describes the search for liberation as a search for freedom from restraint, but also for freedom for a new way of life. With this in mind, the article re-reads the story of Abraham, a migrant facing the difficulties and upheavals that most migrants experience, meeting some of them well and failing in other instances. The article concludes with an analysis of Franz Hinkelammert's reading of Abraham and Isaac, seeing Abraham's final discovery of freedom in the fact that he does not kill his son. The resilience of the migrant is seen in the way in which Abraham overcomes all the temptations set before him to become eventually a blessing for all nations.