Last Updated:
7 November, 2007
Religion in Southern
Africa
[ Religion
at WISER ]
[ Reasons
of Faith: Religion in Modern Public Life
]
[ Upcoming
Conferences, Seminars and Calls for Papers
]
[ Funding,
Vacancies and Research Opportunities
]
[ New
Publications ]
[ Journals
]
[ Links
to research bodies and departments ]
[ Academic
Associations ]
This website
has been developed for people interested in exploring the social, cultural,
economic and political dynamics of religion in Southern Africa. It aims
to support an international research network, stimulate public debate,
and keep scholars informed about new developments within the interdisciplinary
study of religions in Southern Africa.
The events of September the 11th placed
religion at the centre of attempts to understand contemporary social
and political processes across the globe. Both academic and popular
commentators have sought to understand the role of religion in terms
of categories of fundamentalism and Huntington’s “clash
of Civilizations”. While faith and doctrine are salient to these
debates, this resource also seeks to highlight and stimulate research
into the widely divergent consequences of religion in the secular state,
paying particular attention to the variety of religious affiliations
and organizations that are currently active in the social and political
realm.
In the Southern African climate of rapid
social change, the role and significance of religion has been shifting,
raising some interesting questions such as:
- What is the impact of Pentecostal Charismatic Christianity?
- How are discourses of African nationalism rooted
in both Christian theology and African traditional practices?
- What is the significance of religion in the changing
landscape of Southern African cultures, and how are the categories
of religion and culture different?
- How are religious communities engaging with issues
as divergent as gay marriage, HIV/Aids and sexual violence?
- How do secular states order their interactions with
religious communities?
- How are religious motifs emerging in popular culture,
music, novels and television?
- How do we understand the global debates about Islamic
Fundamentalism and their repercussions within Southern Africa?
- How can the Weberian dialectic between work and
religion be understood in the contemporary context?
Religion at WISER:
A community of scholars working on religion has come
together at Wiser and they are doing research into a diverse range of
issues.
The Religious Lives of Migrants Project
This is an international projected headed by Thomas Blom Hansen. Wiser
is hosting two postdoctoral researchers who are exploring the religious
lives of migrants in and around Johannesburg. Samadia
Sadouni is focusing her investigation into the lives of Muslim migrants
while Caroline Jeannerat is looking at the experiences of Pentecostal
Charismatic Christians from central Africa.
Maria Frahm-Arp
Maria’s work is focused on the religious experiences of professional
women who attend Pentecostal Charismatic Churches. She has a particular
interest in the dialect nature of religion and the world of work.
Annie Leatt
Annie’s focus is the secular state and the way it has framed engagements
between religious bodies, law and state post 1994.
Reasons of Faith: Religion in Modern Public Life
The second Wiser Review published in the
Mail and Guardian in December 2006 explored a cross-section of religious
practices in South Africa. This collection of essays asked: ‘What
are the limits of reason? And what are the conditions of faith? To what
extent is the power of reason itself a matter of faith? And what is
the place of the sacred in our notions of the secular? To read these
essays click
here.
Upcoming Conferences,
Seminars and Call for Papers:
Immanent Frame
The Social Science Research Council is pleased to announce
the launch of The Immanent Frame (http://www.ssrc.org/blogs/immanent_frame/),
a new SSRC blog on secularism, religion, and the public sphere.
The blog is opening with a series of posts on Charles Taylor's A Secular
Age, including recent contributions from Robert Bellah, Wendy Brown,
Jose Casanova, Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, and Colin Jager. Robert Bellah
has called A Secular Age "one of the most important books to be
written in my lifetime," and there will be more to come on Taylor's
major work in the weeks ahead, with posts by Rajeev Bhargava, Akeel
Bilgrami, Hent de Vries, Amy Hollywood, Tomoko Masuzawa, Joan Scott,
and others. Meanwhile, Charles Taylor himself has just made his own
contribution to the already ongoing conversations.
But The Immanent Frame won’t be limited
to discussions of A Secular Age. Later this fall we'll also host a series
of posts responding to Mark Lilla's The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics,
and the Modern West. And there will be posts on a variety of other topics
too—from pluralism and the "post-secular" to international
relations theory, religious freedom, and the future of shari'a.
This new SSRC blog will draw on, and is closely
linked to, the Council’s expanding work on religion and the public
sphere. We invite readers to email us with comments or questions at
religion@ssrc.org.
Call for Papers
Exploring Religious Spaces in the African State: Development and Politics
from Below
Conference organised by the Centre of African Studies, the
University of Edinburgh and WISER, The Witwatersrand University Institute
for Social and Economic Research, South Africa.
9 – 10 April 2008, Edinburgh
All the abstracts should be submitted not later than 10th December 2007.
Click
here for more information
Conference
BSA Sociology of Religion Study Group Annual Conference
Religion and Youth
Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre, Birmingham
8th – 10th April, 2008
Preparations for the 2008 Study Group conference are well in hand. Unfortunately
we have not been able to put the registration form on the socrel website
yet. However, it is available on the Kingston University webpage using
the following link
http://fass.kingston.ac.uk/conferences/religion_and_youth/
If you have any queries please contact S.Collins-Mayo@Kingston.ac.uk
or Ben Pink Dandelion on BenPD@compuserve.com
Call for Papers
"Religion and Social Capital"
Despite its pertinence in classical sociology, the sociology of religion
has for decades been
rather isolated from developments within the larger discipline. This
situation is now
changing rapidly with the re-discovery of religion in many fields of
research including
political sociology, socio-legal studies, migration studies, debates
about globalization and
world society, and, not least, sociological theory. Wishing to foster
intellectual cross-
fertilization between sociology of religion and general sociology, Social
Compass is devoting a special thematic issue to the relation between
religion and social capital.
Deadline for Submission: 31 January 2008
http://scp.sagepub.com/
Click
here for more information
Call for Papers
Obeah and Other Powers: The Politics of Caribbean Religion and Healing
A Conference at Newcastle University
16-18 July, 2008
Keynote speaker: Robert A. Hill
Conference organizers: Diana Paton and Maarit Forde
This interdisciplinary conference will bring together scholars who are
interested in the connections between religion and power in the Caribbean:
the power of colonial and postcolonial states, of ruling elites, of
subaltern communities, of nationalism, of ritual specialists, and of
the spirits, lwas, orishas, and ancestors. We situate Caribbean religions
within their broad historical and social contexts and are particularly
interested in work relating to those communities, practices and belief
systems that have been stigmatized or even outlawed, most of which have
been symbolically connected to Africa. These include obeah, quimbois,
santería/ regla de ocha, vodou, Rastafari, kali mai puri, the
Spiritual Baptist religion / the Converted, brujería, palo monte,
Orisha, pocomania/ pukkumina, winti, and Revival Zion.
For more information on the conference themes, schedule and submitting
of abstracts please see
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/historical/history/Obeahconference
Maarit Forde, Ph.D. (Anthropology)
Researcher
School of Historical Studies
Newcastle University
Research fellow
Institute for the Study of the Americas
University of London
tel 079 123 480 21
www.valt.helsinki.fi/blogs/kmlaitin
Funding, Vacancies and Research Opportunities
Project Officer / Research Associate
University of Manchester
Closing date: 2 November 2007
We are seeking an organised and self-directed person to take day-to-day
responsibility for the creation of an online centre for British data
on religion. You will play an active role in all aspects of the project
and will have an interest in the history and sociology of religion,
though previous experience in these fields is not essential. You will
be required to work with numbers and will have the ability to present
information clearly and creatively and to write well in English.
Funded from the AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society Research Programme, the
post is for 27 months, commencing 1 January 2008 or as soon as possible
thereafter. It is a full-time position, although flexible hours can
be arranged and part-time work or job sharing might be considered.
You will have a postgraduate qualification in a relevant field (e.g.
history, religious studies, librarianship, social science, statistics,
or computer science) and effective communication skills both verbally
and in writing. Experience of handling survey datasets would be an advantage,
though training will be provided.
Salary: £26,666 - £28,289 p.a.
Informal enquiries are welcome; please contact David Voas,
e-mail: voas@man.ac.uk, tel: 0161
275 4836
Further details can be found on the University
of Manchester jobs site
New Publications:
Daughters are Diamonds: Honour, Shame & Seclusion
- A South African Perspective
On the 20th April 2007 Daughters are
Diamonds: Honour, Shame & Seclusion A South African Perspective
was launched in Polokwane. The book documents the life stories of women
in cultural settings and the opportunities available to them in democratic
South Africa. It looks at stigma and expectations placed on women, and
how this affects decision-making in women’s lives. While it focuses
on a study of Indian Muslim women in South Africa, it also presents
itself as a framework for various cultural settings in the greater landscape
of South African society. Family honour is the leading thread through
the journey that this book undertakes. Hassim’s research suggests
that social behaviour among the Indian Muslims in South Africa locates
itself in the preservation of patriarchal custom and tradition, so deeply
embedded in everyday life that its undertaking is almost always mistaken
for religious obligation. Cultural belief, traditionalist values and
religion are transposed and inform thoughts and actions. People who
go against the prescribed behaviours are stigmatised and slandered.
Hence, entrenched cultural acts glean social endorsement from being
viewed as a duty or obligation to divine command. The line between the
religion of Islam as a way of life, and traditionalist thinking that
derives from the Indian culture becomes blurred, and the female individual
internalises this transposed network of ambiguous thought as a natural
condition. She naturalises her own dependency and subordination as part
of her greater link with Faith. In so doing, she becomes the perfect
candidate for perpetuating the system later on in life as a mother or
mother-in-law.
Shafinaaz Hassim holds an MA in Social Science
from the University of the Witwatersrand. The author may be contacted
at shafinaaz_hassim@yahoo.com
View the official website for the book at http://daughtersarediamonds.blogspot.com
David Maxwell, 2006, African Gifts of the Spirit:
Pentecostalism and the Rise of a Zimbabwean Transnational Religious
Movement
Athens OH: Ohio University Press; Oxford: James Currey; Harare: Weaver
Press.
Journals:
Journal of Southern African Studies (JSAS)
Journal of Religion in Africa (JRA)
Journal of Theology in Southern Africa (JTSA)
Journal for the Study of Religion (JSR)
Journal of Contemporary Religion (JCR)
Links to Research Bodies
and Departments:
ARHAP
The African Religious Health Assests Programme.
This programme has recently received $2 million in funding from the
World Health Organisation. The research team are exploring how people
make decisions about their health and healthcare based on one or more
religious worldviews from which they work.
www.ARHAP.uct.ac.za
Institute for the Comparative Study
of Religion in Southern Africa (ICSRA)
The Institute is a research unit dedicated to the postcolonial study
of religion and religions. They also do applied research in religion
and education, national policy and conducting workshops.
www.uct.ac.za/faculties/humanities/research/icrsa
Centre for Contemporary Islam (CCI)
This centre is involved in international academic research and publication
projects which address questions facing contemporary Islam.
www.uct.ac.za/faculties/humanities/research/cci
Research Institute for Christianity
and Society in Southern Africa (RICSA)
This research unit has recently completed a research project on ‘The
Social History of Christianity in South Africa, 1487-1994’ and
the database is available on CD-ROM. RICSA is also involved with the
research work of ARHAP focused on the interface between religion and
public health.
www.uct.ac.za/faculties/humanities/research/ricsa
UNISA Department of Religious Studies
The department engages with the religions in a historical and comparative
context. Prof H. Steyn is head of the department and can be contacted
via Steynhc@unisa.ac.za
www.unisa.ac.za/religiousstudies
School of Religion and Theology University
of KwaZulu Natal
The school focuses on the lived experience of Christianity in South
Africa and the importance of developing a theology addressing the issues
in contemporary society. Affiliated to the school is the theology and
development programme directed by Prof S. de Gruchy www.hs.unp.ac.za/theology/&development.htm
Isabel Phiri is head of the school and can be contacted on phirI@ukzn.ac.za
Faculty of Theology at Stellenbosch
University
The faculty aims to serve the church, community and science by teaching
and researching the different Christian traditions with sensitivity
and an awareness of the broader African context in which people live
out their faith. The Beyers Naude Centre for Theology and the Centre
for Bible Translation in Africa are affiliated to the faculty.
http://academic .sun.ac.za/theology
Faculty of Theology at Pretoria University
The goal of the faculty is to educate students to become well-equipped
ministers of religion who are able to effectively serve the churches
in Southern Africa.
The dean of the faculty is Prof CJA Vos and can be contacted via prakgesk@ccnet.up.ac.za
Department of Religious Studies and Theology at the
University of the Western Cape
The department offers contemporary programmes in theology that equip
students to fulfill positions of leadership in religious and moral civic
communities. There are three collaborative research projects affiliated
to the department: Moral education which aims to address the formation
of a human rights culture, Christianity and ecological theology and
ecumenical theology and social transformation in Africa. cbergstedt@uwc.ac.za
Faculty of Theology at North-West
University (Potchefstroom)
The faculty hosts the Research Unit for Reformational Theology and the
Development of the South African Society which focuses on ethics and
society.
rtsam@puk.ac.za
sbbfvr@puk.ac.za
St Augustine College
This is a Catholic university in Linden Johannesburg with a particular
focus on theology and ethics in modern society.
admin@staugustine.ac.za
www.staugustine.ac.za
Centre for Islamic Studies (UJ)
Dr Ashraf Dockrat
maed@lw.rau.ac.za
South African Council of Churches
www.sacc.org.za
Jamiat Islamia (Council of Muslim Theologians)
jamiat@islamsa.org.za
Academic
Associations:
| ASRSA |
Association for the Study of Religion
in Southern Africa
President is Prof Pratap Kumar and the Secretary is Dr Denzil Chetty,
PENUMALA@ukzn.ac.za |
| ISSR |
International Society for the Study
of Religion (Europe) |
| ASR |
Association for the Study of Religion (USA) |
| SSSR |
Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (USA) |
| BSA |
British Sociological Association Religion Study
Group (UK) |
| ISA |
International Sociological Association Religion
Study Group |
| SAR |
Society for the Anthropology of Religion. (USA) |
| AAR |
American Academy of Religion (AAR) |
