Research with Religio-Cultural Heritage in Africa

Dear Colleagues,

Richard Alan Schwartz (2003, p.43) proposes, “religion, like sex, is an almost universal interest of the human race.” In Africa and various Africana contexts (diaspora), the centrality of research with religio-cultural heritage is widely acknowledged in the framework of the parade of disciplines (i.e., law, gender studies, psychology, sociology, political studies, international studies, historical studies, etc.).  In many African and Africana societies, it is virtually impossible to completely avoid the influence of religio-cultural thoughts and beliefs. These foundational ideas continue to impact on both individual and the institutional systems (Mbiti 1969—African context; Paris 1995—North American context). Religio-cultural heritages has retained its resilience and is a significant part of life in many African and Africana contexts.

Specifically, in many African contexts, Sub-Saharan, religio-cultural heritages manifest themselves especially during times of economic and social distress. It is very common for many politicians to seek for spiritual interventions during such times. This has resulted in the creation of national days of prayers and fasting as a means to seek solutions to national stresses. In addition, during political campaigns, some politicians consult prophets and traditional diviners for winning elections and protection from opponents who sometimes are perceived as Satanists or wizards. Hence, during political campaigns and elections, the issues of witchcraft and Satanism, even rumours of ritual killings, became highlighted in many African countries.  This is because, as Stephen Ellis and Gerrie ter Haar (2004, p. 2) underline, “it is largely through religious ideas that Africans think about the world today.” The features of African religio-cultural heritages are “the common font of inheritance or the environmental air that” many contemporary African and Africana social, religious and political institutions “breathe” (Wariboko 2018, p. 47).

However, research on religions in Africa in particular continues to be confronted with numerous methodological and theoretical challenges. On the one hand, the research has suffered from methodological weakness and imported theoretical apparatus by some African scholars. On the other hand, Africanists (Global North scholars) continue to perpetuate the utilization of Western categories and theories in the interpretation of African religio-cultural experiences and indigenous knowledge systems. This has perpetuated the Western theoretical view of Africa as a mere source of raw materials or unprocessed data.

This Special Issue seeks to engage methodological, ideological, theological, theoretical and other factors shaping various approaches to contemporary research with religio-cultural heritages in African and Africana contexts. It seeks to provide a space for nuanced, subverted and contextual approaches to understanding the dynamics and the fluidity of the research with religio-cultural heritages in Africa and Africana. African, Africana and Africanist scholars from a variety of disciplines are invited to showcase the approaches informing and shaping their research with religio-cultural heritages and its salience and resilience in various religious and public spheres (Kalu 2008). We would welcome studies engaging in religio-cultural heritages from particular disciplinary perspectives concerning various topics including, but not limited to, the following:

Decoloniality, decolonization and coloniality;
Posthuman and transhumanism;
Afrofuturism;
Nationalism and patriotism;
African Pentecostalism (megachurches, prosperity, prophetism, witchcraft);
Science and technology;
Mathematics;
Democratization and governance;
Populism;
Interreligious relations;
Conflict, peacebuilding and common good;
Religious freedom and liberalization of religion and religious spaces;
Political and social transformation;
Subversive ethnographies;
Marriage and family values;
Genders and sexualities;
Age, respect and social values;
Public universities and schools;
Gender-based violence, Incest and sexual taboos;
Ecology, public health, bioethics, and traditional medicines;
Animal sacrifice and animal rights;
Alternative economies to capitalism;
Political parties;
Elections and campaigns;
Race and racism;
Ethnicity;
Neo-Traditional leaderships;
Strengthening of social and political institutions;
The 4^th Industrial Revolution;
Business and Hustling;
Laws and policy;
Development and human progress;
International relations;
Arts and poetry.

Reference:

Ellis, Stephen and Gerrie ter Haar. 2004. Worlds of Power: Religious Thought and Political Practice in Africa. London: C. Hurst and Co.

Wariboko, Nimi. 2018. The Split God: Pentecostalism and Critical Theory. Albany: SUNY Press.

Mbiti, John S. 1969. African Religions and Philosophy. London: Heinemann.

Kalu, Ogbu. 2008. African Pentecostalism: An Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Schwartz, Richard A. 2003. An Eyewitness: The 1950s. New York: Facts on Files, Inc.

Paris, Peter J. 1995. The Spirituality of African Peoples: The Search for a Common Moral Discourse. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.

Prof. Dr. Chammah Judex Kaunda
Prof. Dr. Tinyiko Sam Maluleke
Guest Editors

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• Decoloniality, decolonization and coloniality
• posthuman and transhumanism
• afrofuturism
• nationalism and patriotism
• African Pentecostalism (megachurches, prosperity, prophetism, witchcraft)
• science and technology
• interreligious relations
• race and racism
• development and human progress
• arts and poetry