What Is Religion in Africa? Relational Dynamics in an Entangled World

Abstract

Addressing the implications of the introduction of the concept of religion to Africa in the colonial era, this essay approaches religion from a relational angle that takes into account the connections between Africa and Europe. Much can be learned about the complexity and power dynamics of these connections by studying religion not simply in but also from Africa. Referring to historical and current materials from my research in Ghana by way of example, my concern is to show how a focus on religion can serve as a productive entry point into the longstanding relational dynamics through which Africa and Europe are entangled. This is a necessary step in decolonizing scholarly knowledge production about religion in Africa, and in religious studies at large.

Notions of Freedom in the Rise of a Sumbanese Christianity (1902–2002)

“…Christianity is the largest religion worldwide.116 but the freedom of assembly also contributed to losses of Christian assemblies due to the appeal of new emerging real and virtual assemblies organized -in historical order -by socialists, communists, fascists, radio stations, tv stations, festival organizers, pop idols, and social media influencers. Duits,117 Klaver,118 and Meyer,119 among others, document that in Pietistic contexts, in recent decades, especially Evangelical and Pentecostal movements were relatively successful. The appeal of their assemblies rests on music, rituals and authoritative aesthetic styles.…”

Community participation in a low‐income neighborhood: The salience of sociodemographic characteristics, perceptions and experience of violence, and neighborhood attachment

“…Perhaps these findings are indicative of the salience of faith and spiritualized practices in the daily lives of people in a country such as South Africa where religion has a mixed and complicated record (Lubaale, 2019 ). Atujuna and Preston‐Whyte ( 2008 , p. 5) are of the opinion that “religious groups are shaped by the circumstances within which they evolve.” Religion, notwithstanding the definitional debates about the concept and the colonialism‐religion nexus (Meyer, 2021 ), is manifest in people's everyday life in various parts of the country. In under‐resourced and marginalized communities, religious beliefs, spirituality, and membership to faith‐based groups provide a common vocabulary for members to create and experience a “culture of solidarity” (Fantasia, 1989 ) as well as opportunities to organize for social change (Fantasia, 1989 ; Mirola, 2003 ; Pehl, 2016 ).…”

Evaluating the Dynamic Changes of Urban Land and Its Fractional Covers in Africa from 2000–2020 Using Time Series of Remotely Sensed Images on the Big Data Platform

“…Lastly, other variables, such as the cultural and social processes (i.e., religious, political issues, conflicts, etc. [74][75][76]), and the former historical processes (i.e., colonial traditions, international commercial agreements, international integration, etc. [77,78]) may have an impact on the change of urban land, and these variables may bring the complex change in urban spatial heterogeneity on a local scale.…”