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‘Battling for Souls: Contesting for Space’? African Traditional Religions and Pentecostalism in Zimbabwe
Get PDFThere is no doubt of the existence of religious competition and conversion in Africa. Pentecostalism has become one of the fastest growing forms of Christianity that has created a major competition for African traditional religions. This study concurs with the idea that diversity and competition are often vehicles, if not drivers, of creative change, and such innovation creates more competition. It is the thrust of this study to analyse how contemporary Pentecostalism in Harare has been forced to create innovations from African Traditional Religion as experienced through ‘rituals, symbols and practices that are usually forms of communication with the divine as well as through more contemplative practices that enhance one’s awareness of the presence of God’ (Mwaura 2008:2)
Ethiopia’s Ahbash Path to Religious Moderation and Countering Extremism: Pitfalls and Discontents
Get PDFEthiopia is a religiously diverse state with a history of largely cordial relationships among religious groups except from the occasional confrontation and mistrust. However, the relatively peaceful coexistence seems to be losing ground for intolerance and religious extremism in recent years. Both inter- and intra-religious conflicts are not uncommon to observe. Intra-religious conflicts within the Muslim community are surfacing mainly between the Sufi- and Salafi-oriented groups either along doctrinal lines or competition for controlling Islamic institutions. Equally worrying is the role of the government in ‘mediating the conflict’. Sufism is now gaining momentum around government policy circles to be promoted as a strategy for countering religious extremism. Sufis represented by Ahbash are now receiving ‘undue government favour’ often at the exclusion of the Salafis who are accused of harbouring religious intolerance and extremist ideas. In this regard, the government is running the risk of embracing an ‘official Islam’ viewed as moderate, apolitical and correct at the exclusion of extremist, political and ‘distorted Islam’ quite in contradiction with the constitutional principle of secularism. This paper examines the threats of religious extremism in post-1991 Ethiopia and interrogates the government policies and practices taking into account the regional and geopolitical contexts. It identifies the actors, their roles, power positions and mobilisation strategies in the conflict
A Christian Construction of Domestic Violence in Electronic Media: A Case Study of Ìdààmú Ilémoṣú by Kolade Segun-Okeowo
Get PDFDomestic violence is often literally used as a metaphor for power relationships and expressed in different forms and contexts. Scholarships on domestic violence focus more on medical and social aspects to the neglect of its representation in electronic media. An analysis of home video films, which forms part of the electronic media, is worthwhile in expounding the prevalence, causes and effect of this social ill in the Nigerian society. This paper explores the representation of domestic violence in Ìdààmú Ilémoṣú, a popular video film produced by Kolade Segun-Okeowo, a Nigerian Christian producer of Christian home video films. The analysis of data benefits from the sociology of religion
Christian Confrontations with Indigenous Beliefs in the Niger Delta
Get PDFAfter centuries of deep embeddedness within macrocosmic social structures, including trade with Europeans and other communities along the Niger, the macrocosmic tiers of Brass’ and Bonny’s cosmologies were not as prominent as Robin Horton’s Intellectualist Theory would predict. Rather, this article suggests that a process of microcosmic-tiered condensation precipitated conversion in Brass and Bonny. Church Mission Society archival materials that recount cosmological confrontations between Christian and indigenous beliefs under Bishop Samuel Crowther in Bonny and Rev. Thomas Johnson in Brass are examined, arguing that for individuals that abandoned contested beliefs, the microcosmic tier of their cosmology became smaller with each belief that was disowned. A cosmological lacuna was thereby created that could be filled in a number of ways, including conversion to Christianity. This article suggests that this process of microcosmic-tiered condensation became a contributing factor in conversion in Brass and Bonny
Border crossings: Student drawings as strategic thinking for metacritical and embodied learning
Get PDFIn this article I examine a select group of drawing exercises presented in the early part of the first-year drawing programme in the Department of Visual Art, University of Johannesburg (UJ), South Africa. As many of our first-year students have little formal drawing experience before entering the programme, these drawing exercises confront received conventions of drawing that run counter to more productive strategies of metacritical thinking about how one draws. I explore how the drawing exercises under discussion embrace haptic knowledge, thinking, and doubt, through developing cognitive and kinaesthetic awareness. Such awareness facilitates embodied experiences of looking, drawing, and thinking that counter rote and uncritical picture-making
An overview of the angular geomorphic lock – an anti-rutting model for sustainable road infrastructure
Get PDFSustainable road infrastructure is largely dependent on the resilience of the road foundation to withstand dynamic stresses. From Empirical to Mechanistic Empirical Pavement Design Guidelines (MEPDG), the use of unbound granular materials (UGMs) has been specified for road foundation bases for flexible roads. Rutting is a common road failure from these designs. MEPDG includes climate change factors that essentially invalidate the empirical approach. However, both design approaches still rely on the anisotropic particle interlock of UGM upon compaction, notwithstanding traditional or intelligent compaction technology. The anisotropic character of compacted UGM only exhibits vertical stiffness with the highest shear stress located in the mid layer. This makes the interface between the surface of the compacted subgrade and the bottom of the compacted subbase incompatible. Consequently, the stiffness of the UGM is satisfactory for static loads, but when these become dynamic, the inter-granular transmission of these stresses creates a new challenge, non-linearity of stress and the ensuing propensity for stress rotation. A model subbase of a road foundation was modified acknowledging the natural angle of repose of UGM. The ribbed saw tooth structure with an inherent composite anisotropic character seemed to offer significant stiffness. A three-point shear stress localisation (3-PSSL) was experimentally created with three stress levels identified within the subbase and a fourth stress level in the base. This geomorphic lock is possible by the use of an angular geo-lock compactor (AGL). Added stiffness in the road foundation should avert rutting, thereby increasing resilience and sustainability of road infrastructure, and ultimately stimulating socio-economic development. World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) has documented this ongoing research as patent No. WO 2021/048590 A1 awaiting entry into The National Phase. This is Work in Progress, where particle intra-lock may invalidate particle interlock
Britain’s Safety Arguments: French Nuclear Testing in Algeria duringNigerian Decolonisation (1959-60)
Get PDFFrance’s decision to hold its first nuclear tests in the Algerian Sahara, at a time when the question of the health effects of radioactive fallout was a matter of scientific controversy, gave Africans political as well as scientific arguments to oppose French policy. In 1959, as African anti-nuclear sentiment grew, Britain suddenly faced the unique situation of having to preserve its relationship with France whilst securing post-independence ties with Nigeria, who was soon to become independent. In its attempt to overcome this dilemma, and in the absence of precise information about what the French were planning, Britain produced original technical arguments suggesting that tests in the Sahara would be safe. When fallout from Gerboise Bleue, the first French nuclear test, reached Nigeria in February 1960, Britain attempted to consolidate the narrative on the safety of French nuclear tests ex post facto, without however furthering its political interests in Africa or Europe. Based on multinational archival documents, this article offers a comparative and connected history of Gerboise Bleue, with particular attention to the context of African decolonisation
Empowered Resistance: The Impact of an African Indigenous Faith Tradition on the “Woman Who Was More Than a Man”
Get PDFTheology plays a role in how we think about human agency for social change. One’s conception of God’s relationship to humanity, or lack thereof, can suppress or empower resistance to oppressive systems. The prophetic revolutionary fighter Aline Sitoë Diatta remains an inspirational symbol of resistance, not only for the Diola people of Senegal but also more broadly throughout West Africa. As “La femme qui était plus qu’un homme”—the woman who was more than a man—her legendary impact on subsequent generations offers the opportunity to investigate the empowering influence of the Diola indigenous faith tradition, awasena path, on moral and ethical formation. Employing the womanist theological ethics of Katie G. Cannon and Delores Williams, along with the quare theory of E. Patrick Johnson, this paper theorizes an ethic of resistance and an ethic of control. The paper will then explore Diatta’s use of both ethics based on an analysis of an African short film, À La Recherche Aline. Diatta’s embodiment of an ethic of resistance and an ethic of control within modern reenactments of her story depict her rebellion against colonialism as empowered by the awasena path and its theology. The film reflects a modern reception history of Diatta that continues to inspire those of African descent to defend against attacks on their personhood by white supremacy
Nation Women Negotiating Islam: Moving Beyond Boundaries in the Twentieth Century by C. S\u27thembile West
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Africa-China Relations and the Issue of South-South Cooperation
Get PDFAfrica-China or Sino-African relations continue to grow stronger. Africa sees China as a partner in development with the global South-South Cooperation. As a measure of friendship, China constructed the African Union headquarters at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for free. There has been cooperation between China and African countries. China’s role in Africa during the independence struggles is well noted and its development assistance to the continent has been phenomenal over the years. As Africa and China relations continue, several bottlenecks continue to mar the relationship. This paper highlights the bottlenecks of Africa-China relations by tracing the historical ties between China and African states. It delves into Africa-China relations in terms of South-South Cooperation and China’s foreign policy of non-interference in internal matters of other states. It uses 2019 data to analyze China-Africa trade, investments and revenues accruing to both partners. It concludes with how China-African states can achieve mutual benefits