Read a May 20, 2013, America magazine review of a new book, God’s Reign & the End of Empires, that addresses theology from a “liberationist” perspective.

Thia Cooper is associate professor of religion at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., and the author of Controversies in Political Theology: Development or Liberation?

Gustavo Gutierrez is John Cardinal O’Hara Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. His book A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics and Salvation is considered a foundational work on Latin American liberation theology, and he contributed an essay to The Cambridge Companion to Liberation Theology.

Jualynne Dodson is a visiting professor at the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Michigan State University in East Lansing. She has written extensively about African-American Christians and food.

Armand L. Mauss, a professor emeritus of sociology and religious studies at Washington State University who now lives in Irvine, Calif., has written extensively on Mormonism. His most recent book is All Abraham’s Children: Changing Mormon Conceptions of Race and Lineage (University of Illinois Press, 2003).

Patricia Dixon is associate professor in African-American studies at Georgia State University in Athens, Ga., and co-founder of the African-American Relationships Institute. She contends that a shortage of eligible African-American men, combined with men’s natural tendency to engage in multiple relationships, makes polygamy a practical option for African-Americans.

Brahma Kumaris is a spiritual, educational institution that works to promote humanism, tolerance and enthusiasm for spreading Hinduism across the globe. The institute is located in India.

The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture provides educational resources on religions around the world, including each of their different practices, beliefs and histories. It is based in Kolkata, India.