Christianity, Politics and Public Life in Kenya

Christianity, Politics and Public Life in Kenya PDF Author: Paul Gifford
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781850659341
Category : Christianity
Languages : en
Pages : 283

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Book Description
Since independence in 1963, Kenya has been a classic personalised patronage state, run by a corrupt elite for its own benefit, as became tragically evident in December 2007's stolen election and its aftermath. Kenya is also said to be 80 percent Christian. Under the bland label 'Kenyan Christianity', several different overlapping realities can be distinguished, and it is these which Gifford investigates in this book, relating them to the country's politics and public life. The politically engaged form that challenged the dysfunctional one-party state in the early 1990s is given due prominence, but Gifford contends that today the mainline churches, both Catholic and Protestant, are marked less by such political engagement than by their involvement in development, in which foreign missionaries and global networks play a huge role. The theology of Kenya's mainline churches is consciously focused on African culture, as a non-negotiable foundation, and the Catholic church has an additional agenda - to Africanise its religious congregations. Kenya is also noted for its rich variety of African indigenous Churches, all originating in a defence of Kenyan cultures, while in recent decades countless Pentecostal churches have also sprung up. They range from affluent middle class churches to refuges for the poor, but nearly all are characterised by a stress on power, success, achievement and prosperity that prioritises modernity rather than traditional culture. Gifford discusses their deployment of the media, crusades, organisation, theology and use of the Bible, and above all the economics that has made this phenomenon possible. Yet another distinct form is an enchanted Christianity in which demons or spiritual forces are deemed responsible for almost everything

Christianity, Politics and Public Life in Kenya

Christianity, Politics and Public Life in Kenya PDF Author: Paul Gifford
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781850659341
Category : Christianity
Languages : en
Pages : 283

Get Book Here

Book Description
Since independence in 1963, Kenya has been a classic personalised patronage state, run by a corrupt elite for its own benefit, as became tragically evident in December 2007's stolen election and its aftermath. Kenya is also said to be 80 percent Christian. Under the bland label 'Kenyan Christianity', several different overlapping realities can be distinguished, and it is these which Gifford investigates in this book, relating them to the country's politics and public life. The politically engaged form that challenged the dysfunctional one-party state in the early 1990s is given due prominence, but Gifford contends that today the mainline churches, both Catholic and Protestant, are marked less by such political engagement than by their involvement in development, in which foreign missionaries and global networks play a huge role. The theology of Kenya's mainline churches is consciously focused on African culture, as a non-negotiable foundation, and the Catholic church has an additional agenda - to Africanise its religious congregations. Kenya is also noted for its rich variety of African indigenous Churches, all originating in a defence of Kenyan cultures, while in recent decades countless Pentecostal churches have also sprung up. They range from affluent middle class churches to refuges for the poor, but nearly all are characterised by a stress on power, success, achievement and prosperity that prioritises modernity rather than traditional culture. Gifford discusses their deployment of the media, crusades, organisation, theology and use of the Bible, and above all the economics that has made this phenomenon possible. Yet another distinct form is an enchanted Christianity in which demons or spiritual forces are deemed responsible for almost everything

Christianity, Politics and Public Life in Kenya

Christianity, Politics and Public Life in Kenya PDF Author: Paul Gifford
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781850659358
Category : Christianity
Languages : en
Pages : 283

Get Book Here

Book Description
Since Independence in 1963, Kenya has been a classic personalised patronage state, run by a corrupt elite for its own benefit, as became tragically evident in December 2007s stolen election and its aftermath. Kenya is also said to be 80 per cent Christian. Under the bland label Kenyan Christianity several different if overlapping realities can be distinguished, and it is these that Gifford investigates in this book, relating them to the countrys politics and public life.

African Christianity

African Christianity PDF Author: Paul Gifford
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253212047
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
These detailed analyses of the state of the churches in each country suggest more general patterns operating widely across sub-Saharan Africa.

Kenyan, Christian, Queer

Kenyan, Christian, Queer PDF Author: Adriaan van Klinken
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271085606
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
Popular narratives cite religion as the driving force behind homophobia in Africa, portraying Christianity and LGBT expression as incompatible. Without denying Christianity’s contribution to the stigma, discrimination, and exclusion of same-sex-attracted and gender-variant people on the continent, Adriaan van Klinken presents an alternative narrative, foregrounding the ways in which religion also appears as a critical site of LGBT activism. Taking up the notion of “arts of resistance,” Kenyan, Christian, Queer presents four case studies of grassroots LGBT activism through artistic and creative expressions—including the literary and cultural work of Binyavanga Wainaina, the “Same Love” music video produced by gay gospel musician George Barasa, the Stories of Our Lives anthology project, and the LGBT-affirming Cosmopolitan Affirming Church. Through these case studies, Van Klinken demonstrates how Kenyan traditions, black African identities, and Christian beliefs and practices are being navigated, appropriated, and transformed in order to allow for queer Kenyan Christian imaginations. Transdisciplinary in scope and poignantly intimate in tone, Kenyan, Christian, Queer opens up critical avenues for rethinking the nature and future of the relationship between Christianity and queer activism in Kenya and elsewhere in Africa.

The Oxford Handbook of Kenyan Politics

The Oxford Handbook of Kenyan Politics PDF Author: Nic Cheeseman
Publisher:
ISBN: 0198815697
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 786

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Book Description
The Oxford Handbook of Kenyan Politics provides a comprehensive and comparative overview of the Kenyan political system as well as an insightful account of Kenyan history from 1930 to the present day.

Christian Political Witness

Christian Political Witness PDF Author: George Kalantzis
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 0830896201
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 243

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Book Description
George Kalantzis and Gregory W. Lee edit twelve essays that explore the topic of Christian political witness, originally presented at the 2013 Wheaton Theology Conference. Contributors include Stanley Hauerwas, Mark Noll, William Cavanaugh, Peter Leithart and Scot McKnight.

Religion and Politics in Kenya

Religion and Politics in Kenya PDF Author: B. Knighton
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230100511
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
Addresses the various political aspects of the Kenyan political mosaic during the time of Bishop David Gitari, later Archbishop 1997-2002. These essays focus on both this courageous man and the various aspects of the political mosaic in Kenya at that time to 2008, in an effort to bring out the religious dimensions of Kenyan and African politics.

The African Church and COVID-19

The African Church and COVID-19 PDF Author: Martin Munyao
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1793650993
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
The African Church and COVID-19: Human Security, the Church, and Society in Kenya is a bold and incisive look at the African Church in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout the book, contributors explore how the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the fragilities of African society as well as the weaknesses in the Church’s role in helping and serving African communities. The African Church and COVID-19 analyzes the question of how the Church in Kenya should move forward in a post-COVID-19 era to address the vulnerabilities of socio-economic and political structures in Africa.

The Oxford Handbook of Kenyan Politics

The Oxford Handbook of Kenyan Politics PDF Author: Nic Cheeseman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192547674
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 766

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Book Description
Kenya is one of the most politically dynamic and influential countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Today, it is known in equal measure as a country that has experienced great highs and tragic lows. In the 1960s and 1970s, Kenya was seen as a ''success story" of development in the periphery, and also led the way in terms of democratic breakthroughs in 2010 when a new constitution devolved power and placed new constraints on the president. However, the country has also made international headlines for the kind of political instability that occurs when electoral violence is expressed along ethnic lines, such as during the "Kenya crisis" of 2007/08 when over 1,000 people lost their lives and almost 700,000 were displaced. The Oxford Handbook of Kenyan Politics explains these developments and many more, drawing together 50 specially commissioned chapters by leading researchers. The chapters they have contributed address a range of essential topics including the legacy of colonial rule, ethnicity, land politics, devolution, the constitution, elections, democracy, foreign aid, the informal economy, civil society, human rights, the International Criminal Court, the growing influence of China, economic policy, electoral violence, and the impact of mobile phone technology. In addition to covering some of the most important debates about Kenyan politics, the volume provides an insightful overview of Kenyan history from 1930 to the present day and features a set of chapters that review the impact of devolution on regional politics in every part of the country.

Public Religion and the Politics of Homosexuality in Africa

Public Religion and the Politics of Homosexuality in Africa PDF Author: Adriaan van Klinken
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 131707341X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 416

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Book Description
Issues of same-sex relationships and gay and lesbian rights are the subject of public and political controversy in many African societies today. Frequently, these controversies receive widespread attention both locally and globally, such as with the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda. In the international media, these cases tend to be presented as revealing a deeply-rooted homophobia in Africa fuelled by religious and cultural traditions. But so far little energy is expended in understanding these controversies in all their complexity and the critical role religion plays in them. This is the first book with multidisciplinary perspectives on religion and homosexuality in Africa. It presents case studies from across the continent, from Egypt to Zimbabwe and from Senegal to Kenya, and covers religious traditions such as Islam, Christianity and Rastafarianism. The contributors explore the role of religion in the politicisation of homosexuality, investigate local and global mobilisations of power, critically examine dominant religious discourses, and highlight the emergence of counter-discourses. Hence they reveal the crucial yet ambivalent public role of religion in matters of sexuality, social justice and human rights in contemporary Africa.