Christianity and Public Culture in Africa

Harri Englund

• Publisher: Ohio University Press
• Year: 2011
• eBook ISBN: 9780821443668
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology of Religion
• Index: Social Sciences

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. Studentsand 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

Table of contents

• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: Rethinking African Christianities
• Part 1: Missionary and Nationalist Encounters
• Part 2: Patriarchy and Public Culture
• Part 3: A Plurality of Pentecostal Publics
• Bibliography
• Contributors
• Index