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Religion, Politics, and Elections in Africa

Submitted to Program Units
1: African Religions Unit

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Abstract for Online Program Book (maximum 150 words)

Following the recent attempted and successful coups in West Africa, this panel seeks papers that address the numerous ways religion and politics are intertwined in Africa. With growing concern about the democratic and electoral processes around the world, what role have, do, or should African religious traditions play in politics? Are there lessons the rest of the world can learn from the ways religious traditions in Africa have engaged with or distanced themselves from politics and elections? Although headlines frequently focus on examples of religious and political violence, the panel actively invites papers that focus on nonviolent engagement in political and religious spheres as well, or interrogate the violence/nonviolence binary that is often superimposed on social and political movements. The panel also encourages papers that are attentive to issues related to the differences between traditional and modern/post-colonial political systems, the complicated nature of “secularism(s)” in African societies, and the interplay between religious authority and figures and political authority and figures.

Papers

  • Dorcas Dennis, University of North Carolina At Wilmington

    Pot-Breaking and Overseas Travels: Indigenizing Ritual Models in Ghanaian Pentecostal Spaces

    Abstract

    Ghanaian Pentecostal agents who emphasize ritual praxis for migrants live in two worlds as far as questions of socio-religious capital are concerned. One world is informed by a quest to internationalize, have diaspora membership, engage in overseas itinerant missions, and have a global-modern presence. The other is the efforts to indigenize their ritual praxis to appeal to the indigenous sensibilities of local clientele who may become tomorrow’s diaspora members and distinguish themselves from the European mission churches in Ghana. The intense competition in Ghana’s volatile Pentecostal religious field is engendering an open enlisting of indigenous religious models by churches in a bid to gain an edge over other competitors.

    The paper involves fieldwork research among two Ghanaian Pentecostal churches in exploring ways the Pentecostals deploy a tapestry of indigenous models and symbols to appeal to the indigenous sensibilities to negotiate socio-religious capital in the Ghanaian religious landscape thereby indigenizing Christianity.

  • Grace Nwamah,

    The politics of religion and Nigeria’s future: Assessing the controversy around the amended Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020

    Abstract

    This paper explores the intricate interactions of politics, religion, and law in shaping contemporary Nigeria. The focal point of the inquiry is the amended Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA 2020), which eventually turned to be a bone of contention that has sparked heated discussions and differing viewpoints. The contentious issues surrounding CAMA 2020 centre on its clauses pertaining to religious organizations. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and interviews with some key actors, it examines the responses and reactions of Christian and Muslim leaders. These leaders shared their opinions about the new law, which some analysts describe as a deliberate attack on faith-based organisations (FBOs). The findings underpin the tension that exists between Islam and Christianity and the ways in which they relate to and view the state. It also highlights the mistrust and suspicion that characterise the relationship between the government and the people. The CAMA 2020 is a segment of broader tensions in determining the future course of Nigeria in terms of its interaction with religion and politics.

  • Rode Molla, Virginia Theological Seminary

    Decolonizing Identity Politics Through Ethiopians Lived Religion

    Abstract

    Though the Ethiopian contemporary modern governments have tried to divide state and religion, Ethiopians have maintained Covenant thinking to unite religious, political, and social principles. Covenant thinking and cultural and religious relationships created a unified Ethiopia, beyond their ethnic differences, resulting not only in religious unity but also political unity in the Ethiopian context. The surplus, or lived history, of covenant thinking has created values, social and cultural identity, and national consciousness for Ethiopians.

     

    Key Words: Identity Politics, Lived Religion, Covenant Thinking, Greater Ethiopian Discourse

  • James Kwateng-Yeboah, Saint Mary's University, Halifax

    Seeking Canada, Finding Africa: Unravelling the Identity Formations of continental African Christian immigrants in Canada

    Abstract

    This paper examines the motivations underlying the rise and expansion of African Christian immigrant communities in Canada. It focuses on three churches, two Ghanaian and one Nigerian, situated in Toronto and Kingston, Ontario. The paper explores how these communities navigate intricate identities as ‘Canadian,’ ‘African,’ and ‘Christian,’ the implications of these identities on their integration into Canadian society, and their position within the global Christian landscape. This paper argues that African and more broadly, Black-initiated Christian communities in Canada continue to experience marginalization, existing on the periphery of the respectability enjoyed by the historic French Roman Catholic and English Protestant establishments. This marginalization is evident not only in the lack of public recognition but also in the relegation of their religious communities to the margins of Canadian scholarship. Despite this marginalization, African-initiated churches challenge stereotypes, assert multiple identities, and navigate the complexities of cultural preservation and religious expression with resilience.

Audiovisual Requirements

Resources

Play Audio from Laptop Computer
Podium microphone
LCD Projector and Screen

Comments

Hi, I see my name is duplicated here. I see both 14426 and 14427 (registration numbers?) for my name - Nwamah Grace. The record with a University of Leeds Student member account should be the right one. I have selected the most recent number this time. Thank you.

Full Papers Available

No
Program Unit Options

Session Length

2 Hours

Tags

#Pot-breaking
#Breakthrough
#Ghanaian Pentecostals
# Token of Passports
#Rites of Mobility
#Signs and Tokens
#Politics of religion #CAMA 2020
African religions; african politics; african theology; political theology; religion and politics