Roots and shoots and the curious case of Schleiermacher’s tree (aka ‘Is rhizomatic truth seceding arborescent reality?)

This article seeks to encourage practical theology to address the spatial turn in modern life – a turn that is characterised by an exponential increase in multiplicity, fluidity and the collapsing of traditional hierarchies and boundaries in both lived and virtual spaces. One current metaphor that expresses our current social architecture is the concept of the rhizome. The article thus raises the question whether it is possible to identify and develop a rhizomatic practical theology that will better analyse, connect and critique the current social order – a question it seeks to develop in conversations with four other key disciplines: continental philosophy, urban theory/sociology, organisational theory and political philosophy. The article concludes with the expressed view that changes in language and discourse both emerge from, but also shape, new practices of practical theology.