Christianity and Public Culture in Africa — 2011 ·

Edited by Harri Englund

"This collection advances new ways of thinking about the social and political implications of religion.... The volume will be of significant interest to policymakers and to religious and secular NGOs across the African continent."

David Maxwell — author of African Gifts of the Spirit: Pentecostalism and the Rise of a Zimbabwean Transnational Religious Movement

“All in all, this study is a creative and inspiring work that should be read by researchers interested in new directions in the study of African Christianity.”

African Studies Quarterly

“(Christianity and Public Culture in Africa) clearly is a valuable resource for everyone with a scholarly interest in Christianity in contemporary Africa.”

International Bulletin of Missionary Research

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Christianity and Public Culture in Africa takes readers beyond familiar images of religious politicians and populations steeped in spirituality. It shows how critical reason and Christian convictions have combined in surprising ways as African Christians confront issues such as national constitutions, gender relations, and the continuing struggle with HIV/AIDS.

The wide-ranging essays included here explore rural Africa and the continent’s major cities, colonial and missionary legacies, and mass media images in the twenty-first century. They also reveal the diversity of Pentecostalism in Africa and highlight the region’s remarkable denominational diversity. Scholars and students alike will find these essays timely and impressive.

The contributors demonstrate how the public significance of Christianity varies across time and place. They explore rural Africa and the continent’s major cities, and colonial and missionary situations, as well as mass-mediated ideas and images in the twenty-first century. They also reveal the plurality of Pentecostalism in Africa and keep in view the continent’s continuing denominational diversity. Students and scholars will find these topical studies to be impressive in scope.

Contributors: Barbara M. Cooper, Harri Englund, Marja Hinfelaar, Nicholas Kamau-Goro, Birgit Meyer, Michael Perry Kweku Okyerefo, Damaris Parsitau, Ruth Prince, James A. Pritchett, Ilana van Wyk

Harri Englund is reader in the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge. His most recent book about Africa is Human Rights and African Airwaves: Mediating Equality on the Chichewa Radio.