Mapping power as a continuum of symbolic authority, tracing the evolution and performance of legitimacy — from altar to throne, from sanctity to sovereignty —, is a cultural and political critique exposing how public reverence for religious and royal figures acts as a symbolic veil concealing the violent continuities of colonialism, neocoloniality, and capitalism.

While the Pope comes to many right conclusions about anthropogenic climate change and the limits of capitalism, his environmental encyclical is nevertheless plagued by a lingering anthropocentrism which he never manages to root out.