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Grief, relief, and belief: Transpersonal arts-based therapy for abortion-related loss and grief
Get PDFThis article outlines the rationale behind a drama therapy-inspired workshop for grief work with women who are distressed after an abortion. The aim is to explore whether embodied creative activities can help women come to terms with their distress after an abortion. The four participants self-selected. This research uses transpersonal drama therapy (‘mountaintop perspective’) and a multi-dimensional framework that includes African cosmology in which living beings are connected to the dead. The research uses a grief theory theoretical framework and is an exploration of post-grief resilience theories. The methodology used to explore the post-abortion distress of women who found the experience to be lonely and silent was through a workshop. The workshop techniques used were body mapping, doll making, rock carrying, breathwork, and letter writing. Grounding to material elements was consistent. The study found that participants had applied rituals to reach closure. The drama therapy allowed the participants to imagine a future where the abortion was in the past. One surprising finding is that the spiritual aspect of existence is persistent, even if un-lived and un-described
Causes of Religious Conflict in Ethiopia
Get PDFThis study tried to see the causes of religious conflict in Ethiopia. Participants of the study were drawn from conflict-prone areas of the country, chiefly Muslim dominated areas. Christians of various denominations (mainly Protestants and Eastern-Oriental Orthodox or Coptic Church followers) and Muslims took part in the study. The results of the study showed that the desire to form an Islamic State, religious ethnocentrism, a new Islamic movement, the expansion of Christianity, reversing history and methods of preaching were found as major causes of the conflict. The conflicts are said to have brought destructions which caused the massacre of Christians by Islamic fundamentalists as a result of which, according to the study, forty five people were wounded, properties worth of more than five million dollars were destroyed, about five thousand people were forced to flee their homes, and a considerable number of Christians were forced to convert to Islam
Editor\u27s Note
No full textIt is with much enthusiasm I introduce and welcome readers to this Special Issue 5.1 ‘Christianity and Social Change in Contemporary Africa,’ steered by our guest editors, Francis B. Nyamnjoh and Joel A. Carpenter. These richly diverse essays, that make up this Issue, form part of the research outputs and findings of a sub-project ‘Religious Innovation and Competition: Their Impact in Contemporary Africa’ conducted within a very impressive research initiative, ‘Christianity and Social Change in Contemporary Africa’, funded by the John Templeton Foundation in collaboration with the Nagel Institute for the Study of World Christianity, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. The interdisciplinary research project, led by the guest co-editors, took place in 11 sub- Saharan African countries from January 2016 to March 2017
Editor\u27s Note
No full textI am very delighted to introduce and welcome readers to the Special Issue No. 6.1 (November 2023) of the AASR E-Journal for the Study of the Religions of Africa and the African Diaspora, a peer reviewed, open-access journal of the African Association for the Study of Religions (AASR). We are thankful to the guest editors, Lovemore Togarasei and Rebecca Kubanji, for putting together interesting articles based on an ethnographic research study “The impact of religious beliefs on health seeking and health provision behavior: lessons for theological education review at the University of Botswana” carried out under the Nagel Institute’s African Theological Advance project, funded by the Templeton Religion Trust (TRT). This research conducted between July 2018 and September 2019 in Botswana sought to establish how religious and cultural beliefs and practices influence health seeking and health provision behaviors among Batswana and how this knowledge can help in reviewing theological education at the University of Botswana. The primary questions addressed by the study are: How do religious beliefs influence one’s health seeking and health provision behavior? Based on their reading and interpretation of the Bible, how do African Christians view traditional and modern medicine? Does the un/availability of good medical facilities in one’s society influence people’s views of the different health systems? What about the health and medical training programs, do they have courses or content on spirituality and health? How do they view the relevance of religion in their medical training? How do the answers to these questions influence the direction of theological education in Botswana and other African countries
Sufi Islam and Anti-Colonial Politics
Get PDFThis article will tackle how African Muslim Women represented by Sudanese women, are undergoing specific transformations of identity, religion and gender roles in the diaspora space. Identities are said to be in constant processes of negotiation between the traditions of the homeland and that of the host society, thus to investigate the relationship between ideologies of new spaces and Sudanese women’s identity, as Muslims and African immigrants affected by the host society’s race and gender roles and discourses, this article will provide an analysis of the multi-faceted nature of Islam represented by the popular, Sufi Islam attached to the tradition of the home land, and the dominant Islamic religious discourse in West Yorkshire. The article will examine issues of rights, representations and history, and shed light on these African Muslim women’s ideas, perspectives and struggles in the diasporic space, and also unpack the interplay of Africanism, Arabism Muslimness/Sufism in the lives of Sudanese women, as related to wider African Islamic Sufi culture as an integral part of the composition of identity.The article seeks to discuss, debate, provoke and rethink Blackness, Muslimness and religious performativities in a nuanced way that capture the complexities regarding African Muslim communities, diasporic experiences, and the multifaceted nature of Islam. Highlighting Africa Muslim experiences that have long been devalued, side lined and excluded, this article interrogates and adds to the field of ethnicity and race as it negotiates African Muslim identities in diverse ways. The article will represent work done on Black Muslim subjects in diverse and unique contexts, challenging the discourses that have produced homogenous identities and homogenous performativities of Islam. It is a call to decolonize the discourses dominant in the West in general and in the UK in particular, and to resist hegemonic Muslim experience formed by mainstream Islam in West Yorkshire, UK
We Can Fix Ourselves: Building a better South Africa through Black Consciousness
Get PDFScholarship on Black Consciousness in the so-called post-apartheid South Africa is not as prominent as its counterpart within the Congress tradition. The fundamental reason for this is the hegemony and pervasiveness of whiteness and its aversion to the Black Radical Tradition. Another reason is the “success” of the Congress tradition as epitomized by the ANC through its so-called negotiations to usher in an era that is compatible with its political vision of a non-racial constitutional new South Africa. It is in this sense that the intellectual and ideological marginalization of the Azanian tradition which Black Consciousness is a part of, is intimately linked to the “failure” of its political vision.Why this political and historical backdrop? This is because the book We Can Fix Ourselves: Building a better South Africa through Black Consciousness (2021) by Mosibudi Mangena under review locates itself within the philosophy of Black Consciousness in discussing the fundamental problem of the so-called new democratic South Africa. 
The Great Decoupling: China, America and the Struggle for Technological Supremacy
Get PDFIn 12 substantive chapters, the author provides a comprehensive diagnosis of the state of play of the relationship between China and the US, up to the Trump-Xi period. The book’s thesis is that the two countries, the largest in the world across a number of measures (most importantly economic and military) are headed for an inevitable divergence, fuelled by misunderstanding, misalignment, and competing ambitions. This, of course, is nothing new and has been the subject of many academic and journalistic commentaries. But where Inkster stands out is in his focus on technology, an artefact important to every civilisation, and one which becomes a motivation and a weapon for integration or divergence. The book’s title gives a clue as to which camp Inkster falls within. This is no mere new cold war, he argues (though much of his argument fits squarely with much of that burgeoning and increasingly attention-worthy literature). That analogy misses a lot that is different in the US-PRC formation compared to its US-USSR example. It is more akin to the UK-German pre-WWI and US-Japan pre-Pearl Harbour situations; add to that the fuel of the narrative of the century of humiliation, authoritarian rule, and ingenuity and you have a highly motivated government and society in China.
A theological reflection on the Akan doctrine of the human soul
Get PDFThe Akan doctrine of the human soul (nipa-kraa) expresses indigenous Akan worldview and theology. As a contribution to the contextualization of Cristian theology within the Akan community, this paper explored the Akan doctrine of the soul and then reflects on this doctrine from a Christian theological perspective. The paper used a qualitative research approach through a critical review of relevant literature on the subject. In the process, the article analyzed selected portions of Nana Kwame Ampadu’s highlife song titled “Yaa Amanua” to provide further insights into the Akan understanding of the human soul. The article showed that Christianity can better serve the Akan community if indigenous ideas are connected to relevant aspects of the Christian faith
Research as storytelling: sharing wisdom with the profession
Get PDFThis article delves into the transformative potential of case study research within art therapy. Highlighting the ethical considerations inherent in research and practice, the authors underscore the importance of representing clients authentically while considering social justice implications. The paper offers practical tools to navigate biases and ensure respectful representation. The authors advocate for arts-based research as a means to enrich scholarly knowledge and storytelling in the field. By framing research as a form of storytelling rooted in practice wisdom, the paper encourages practitioners to explore diverse narratives and contribute to the global expansion of art therapy