Religion and poverty : Pan-African perspectives

Bibliographic Information

Religion and poverty : Pan-African perspectives

Peter J. Paris, ed. ; foreword by Jacob Olupona

Duke University Press, 2009

  • : cloth
  • : pbk

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Includes bibliographical references and index

Contents of Works
  • An ethical mapping of the transatlantic slave trade / Katie G. Cannon, United States
  • Feminization of poverty across Pan-African societies : The Church's response--alleviative or emancipatory? / Barbara Bailey, Jamaica
  • The informal economy and the religion of global capital / Takatso A. Mofokeng, South Africa
  • A theological perspective on the effects of globalization on poverty in Pan-African contexts / Lewin L. Williams, Jamaica
  • African traditional religion and the concept of poverty / Elizabeth Amoah, Ghana
  • Religion and poverty : ritual and empowerment in Africa and the African diaspora / Linda E. Thomas and Dwight N. Hopkins, United States
  • The Bible and poverty in African Pentecostal Christianity : The Bosadi (Womanhood) approach / Madipoane Masenya, South Africa
  • The struggle for full humanity in poverty-stricken Kenya / Nyambura J. Njoroge, Kenya and Geneva
  • Poverty among African people and the ambiguous role of Christian thought / Kossi A. Ayedze, Togo
  • Religion and materiality : the case of poverty alleviation / Esther M. Mombo, Kenya
  • Warm bodies, cold currency : a study of religion's response to poverty / Anthony B. Pinn, United States
  • Nyerere on Ujamaa and Christianity as transforming forces in society / Laurenti Magesa, Tanzania
  • Caribbean issues : the Caribbean and African American Churches' response / Noel Leo Erskine, Jamaica and United States
  • Africa's poverty, human rights, and a just society / Simeon O. Ilesanmi, Nigeria and United States
  • Self-initiation : a necessary principle in the African struggle to abolish poverty / Peter J. Paris, Canada and United States
Description and Table of Contents

Description

A Ghanaian scholar of religion argues that poverty is a particularly complex subject in traditional African cultures, where holistic worldviews unite life's material and spiritual dimensions. A South African ethicist examines informal economies in Ghana, Jamaica, Kenya, and South Africa, looking at their ideological roots, social organization, and vulnerability to global capital. African American theologians offer ethnographic accounts of empowering religious rituals performed in churches in the United States, Jamaica, and South Africa. This important collection brings together these and other Pan-African perspectives on religion and poverty in Africa and the African diaspora. Contributors from Africa and North America explore poverty's roots and effects, the ways that experiences and understandings of deprivation are shaped by religion, and the capacity and limitations of religion as a means of alleviating poverty. As part of a collaborative project, the contributors visited Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa, as well as Jamaica and the United States. In each location, they met with clergy, scholars, government representatives, and NGO workers, and they examined how religious groups and community organizations address poverty. Their essays complement one another. Some focus on poverty, some on religion, others on their intersection, and still others on social change. A Jamaican scholar of gender studies decries the feminization of poverty, while a Nigerian ethicist and lawyer argues that the protection of human rights must factor into efforts to overcome poverty. A church historian from Togo examines the idea of poverty as a moral virtue and its repercussions in Africa, and a Tanzanian theologian and priest analyzes ujamaa, an African philosophy of community and social change. Taken together, the volume's essays create a discourse of mutual understanding across linguistic, religious, ethnic, and national boundaries. Contributors. Elizabeth Amoah, Kossi A. Ayedze, Barbara Bailey, Katie G. Cannon, Noel Erskine, Dwight N. Hopkins, Simeon O. Ilesanmi, Laurenti Magesa, Madipoane Masenya, Takatso A. Mofokeng, Esther M. Mombo, Nyambura J. Njoroge, Jacob Olupona, Peter J. Paris, Anthony B. Pinn, Linda E. Thomas, Lewin L. Williams

Table of Contents

Foreword / Jacob Olupona ix Acknowledgments xxi Introduction / Peter J. Paris 1 Part 1. The Roots and Impact of Poverty An Ethical Mapping of the Transatlantic Slave Trade / Katie G. Cannon 19 Feminization of Poverty Across Pan-African Societies: the Church's Response-Alleviative or Emancipatory / Barbara Bailey 39 Part 2. Challenges of the Global and Informal Economices The Informal Economy and the Religion of Global Cities / Takatso A. Mofokeng 69 A Theological Perspective on the Effects of Globalization on Poverty in Pan-African Contexts / Lewin L. Williams 88 Part 3. Religious Strategies for Liberating the Poor African Traditional Religion and the Concept of Poverty / Elizabeth Amoah 111 Religion and Poverty: Ritual and Empowerment in Africa and the African Diaspora / Linda E. Thomas and Dwight N. Hopkins 128 The Bible and Poverty in African Pentecostal Christianity: The Bosadi (Womanhood) Approach / Madipoane Masenya 152 The Struggle for Full Humanity in Poverty-Stricken Kenya / Nyambura J. Njoroge 166 Part 4. The Ambiguous Relation of Religion and Poverty Poverty Among African People and the Ambiguous Role of Christian Thought / Kossi A. Ayezde 193 Religion and Materiality: The Case of Poverty Alleviation / Esther M. Mombo 213 Warm Bodies, Cold Currency: A Study of Religion's Response to Poverty / Anthony B. Pinn 228 Part 5. Practical Theories for Combating Poverty Nyerere on Ujamaa and Christianity as Transforming Forces in Society / Laurenti Magesa 249 Caribbean Issues: The Caribbean and African American Churches' Response / Noel Leo Erskine 272 Africa's Poverty, Human Rights, and a Just Society / Simeon O. Ilesanmi 293 Self-Initiation: A Necessary Principle in the African Struggle to Abolish Poverty / Peter J. Paris Contributors Index

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