The influence and impact of the internet, AI, and social media on public religious participation and performances of religion manifest in various ways. Traditionally, African religions favored face-to-face interaction and in-person participation in ritual and devotional practice. Today, the public sphere has expanded into digital spaces, creating new opportunities for gender inclusivity, greater freedom of religious participation, and innovation in ritual performance and practice. The papers in this session examine how digital spaces have shifted and transformed religious devotion and practice, highlighting the role of social media and others in shaping religious participation within indigenous African religions, Islam, and Christianity.
The New Season Prophetic Prayers and Declarations (NSPPD), launched in 2020 by Nigerian Pastor Jerry Eze, redefines religious freedom through digital innovation. Rooted in African spirituality, NSPPD uses platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and WhatsApp to create inclusive spaces for worship, prayer, and community-building. This study argues that NSPPD transforms religious freedom into a networked, participatory, and culturally sovereign experience. It liberates participants from isolation, hierarchies, and Western norms. Grounded in Heidi Campbell’s Digital Religion Theory, Stuart Hall’s Diaspora Theory, and Manuel Castells’ Network Society Theory, the research employs digital ethnography, content analysis, and discourse analysis to examine NSPPD’s global impact from 2020 to 2025. Findings reveal that NSPPD empowers a pan-African identity, advances collective belonging, and challenges Eurocentric models. It offers a case for digital networks as tools of liberation. However, its sustainability depends on addressing challenges like exclusivity and tech disparities, rethinking freedom in a connected world.
In Ile-Ife, the city of 201 Gods, there is a power contestation between the chief priest (Chief Yekere), chief priestess (Chief Eri) and Amuru Moremi (Amuru) over who will emerge as the face and custodian of Moremi. Moremi is an Ife orisha-heroine who is honoured and celebrated in the annual Edi Festival, one of the major festivals in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. From September to November 2024, I conducted ethnographic research on Edi Festival in which I got to witness this power contestation and also interviewed Chief Yekere, Chief Eri and Amuru. Chief Eri has conceded the physical space of the shrine to an all-male priestly class led by Chief Yekere, which she acknowledges is due to patriarchy and the weaponisation of violence against her. On the other hand, a much younger, Amuru has turned to the digital space for religious performance, participation, influence and relevance. In this paper, I will critically engage with how Amuru is strategically and creatively utilising the social media space of Facebook and Youtube to expand and create new opportunities for gender equality, religious freedom, and innovation within Orisha ritual performances and practices.
Migration reshapes gender roles, religious practices, and family structures for Yoruba Muslim women in the U.S. diaspora. Social media often portrays them as liberated or rebellious, oversimplifying their lived experiences. This paper examines how these women negotiate freedom within their cultural and religious contexts through Islamic practices, digital faith networks, and communal spaces. Drawing on Saba Mahmood’s concept of ethical self-formation, I argue that they define freedom not by rejecting tradition but by engaging with religious devotion and moral agency. Talal Asad’s notion of discursive tradition shows how they reinterpret faith in response to migration. Birgit Meyer’s concept of religion as a mediated experience frames digital platforms—like Facebook and online Asalatu networks—as spaces of empowerment and reinforcement of patriarchal narratives. Using digital discourse analysis and ethnographic methods, this study highlights how Yoruba Muslim women actively shape their migration experiences, balancing autonomy, religious identity, and resisting digital stereotypes.
The Beninese state has spent the past thirty years promoting African indigenous religions (notably Vodun) as something crucial to Benin’s national identity. Both the Beninese state and Vodun priests and priestesses have worked continuously to valorize Vodun as: a part of Benin’s cultural heritage, something that was used to combat colonialism, and a current means of cultural and religious decolonization. This talk will examine the ways the Benin is working to promote Vodun as something important to decolonial and self-empowerment discourses. I will analyze the bureaucratic processes that the Beninese government has undergone in this pursuit: the origins of Benin’s tourism industry, the creation of the Vodun Days holiday, the repatriation of artifacts stolen by France during colonialism, and the creation of national monuments (many of which being to individuals and groups thought to possess spiritual power).