Adriaan van Klinken
University of Leeds, Theology and Religious Studies, Faculty Member
- Contemporary Christianity, African Studies, African Religion in Africa and the Diaspora, Gender Studies (Religion), Anthropology of Christianity, Pentecostalism, and 18 moreGender and religion (Women s Studies), Religion and Sexuality, Queer Theology, African theology, Postcolonial Theology, Religion, Religion and Politics, Religion and Human Rights, Christianity, World Christianities, World Christianity, Religion and politics in Africa, African pentecostalism, African Masculinities, Religion and Public Life, Christianity in Africa, Zambia, and Anthropology of Religionedit
- I have a broad interest in the social, public and political roles of religion in African societies today. The particu... moreI have a broad interest in the social, public and political roles of religion in African societies today. The particular focus of my research is on issues of religion, gender and sexuality in contemporary Africa.
My work is empirically based (I conducted substantial fieldwork in Zambia, and currently in Kenya) and seeks to unravel and understand (sometimes rather unintelligible) religious discourses and expressions and their socio-political manifestation and significance. Analysing these, I combine anthropological, sociological and theological approaches and a range of critical theoretical perspectives such as feminist, postcolonial and queer theories.edit
Presenting the deeply moving personal life stories of Ugandan LGBTQ+ refugees in Nairobi, Kenya alongside an analysis of the process in which they creatively engaged with two Bible stories - Daniel in the Lions' Den (Old... more
Presenting the deeply moving personal life stories of Ugandan LGBTQ+ refugees in Nairobi, Kenya alongside an analysis of the process in which they creatively engaged with two Bible stories - Daniel in the Lions' Den (Old Testament) and Jesus and the Woman Caught in Adultery (New Testament) - Sacred Queer Stories explores how readings of biblical stories can reveal their experiences of struggle, their hopes for the future, and their faith in God and humanity. Arguing that the telling of life-stories of marginalised people, such as of Ugandan LGBTQ+ refugees, affirms embodied existence and agency, is socially and politically empowering, and enables human solidarity, the authors also show how the Bible as an authoritative religious text and popular cultural archive in Africa is often used against LGBTQ+ people but can also be reclaimed as a site of meaning, healing, and empowerment. The result of a collaborative project between UK-based academics and a Nairobi-based organisation of Ugandan LGBTQ+ refugees, the book provides a valuable insight into the narrative politics and theologies of LGBTQ+ life-storytelling. A key text for those in African Humanities, Queer Studies, Religious Studies, and Refugee Studies, among others, the book expresses an innovative methodology of inter-reading queer life-stories and biblical stories.
Research Interests: Religion, African Studies, Gender Studies, Queer Studies, New Testament, and 15 moreQueer Theology, Refugee Studies, Contextual Theologies, Hebrew Bible, Africa, Gender and Sexuality, Biblical Studies, East Africa, Kenya, Bible, LGBT Studies, Queer, Refugee, Biblical Hermeneutics, and African Queer Studies
Presenting the deeply moving personal life stories of Ugandan LGBTQ+ refugees in Nairobi, Kenya alongside an analysis of the process in which they creatively engaged with two Bible stories - Daniel in the Lions' Den (Old Testament) and... more
Presenting the deeply moving personal life stories of Ugandan LGBTQ+ refugees in Nairobi, Kenya alongside an analysis of the process in which they creatively engaged with two Bible stories - Daniel in the Lions' Den (Old Testament) and Jesus and the Woman Caught in Adultery (New Testament) - Sacred Queer Stories explores how readings of biblical stories can reveal their experiences of struggle, their hopes for the future, and their faith in God and humanity. Arguing that the telling of life-stories of marginalised people, such as of Ugandan LGBTQ+ refugees, affirms embodied existence and agency, is socially and politically empowering, and enables human solidarity, the authors also show how the Bible as an authoritative religious text and popular cultural archive in Africa is often used against LGBTQ+ people but can also be reclaimed as a site of meaning, healing, and empowerment. The result of a collaborative project between UK-based academics and a Nairobi-based organisation of Ugandan LGBTQ+ refugees, the book provides a valuable insight into the narrative politics and theologies of LGBTQ+ life-storytelling. A key text for those in African Humanities, Queer Studies, Religious Studies, and Refugee Studies, among others, the book expresses an innovative methodology of inter-reading queer life-stories and biblical stories.
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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... more
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.
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Religion is often seen as a conservative force in contemporary Africa. In particular, Christian beliefs and actors are usually depicted as driving the opposition to homosexuality and LGBTI rights in African societies. This book nuances... more
Religion is often seen as a conservative force in contemporary Africa. In particular, Christian beliefs and actors are usually depicted as driving the opposition to homosexuality and LGBTI rights in African societies. This book nuances that picture, by drawing attention to discourses emerging in Africa itself that engage with religion, specifically Christianity, in progressive and innovative ways—in support of sexual diversity and the quest for justice for LGBTI people.
The authors show not only that African Christian traditions harbour strong potential for countering conservative anti-LGBTI dynamics; but also that this potential has already begun to be realised, by various thinkers, activists and movements across the continent. Their ten case studies document how leading African writers are reimagining Christian thought; how several Christian-inspired groups are transforming religious practice; and how African cultural production creatively appropriates Christian beliefs and symbols. In short, the book explores Christianity as a major resource for a liberating imagination and politics of sexuality and social justice in Africa today.
Foregrounding African agency and progressive religious thought, this highly original intervention counterbalances our knowledge of secular approaches to LGBTI rights in Africa, and powerfully decolonises queer theory, theology and politics.
The authors show not only that African Christian traditions harbour strong potential for countering conservative anti-LGBTI dynamics; but also that this potential has already begun to be realised, by various thinkers, activists and movements across the continent. Their ten case studies document how leading African writers are reimagining Christian thought; how several Christian-inspired groups are transforming religious practice; and how African cultural production creatively appropriates Christian beliefs and symbols. In short, the book explores Christianity as a major resource for a liberating imagination and politics of sexuality and social justice in Africa today.
Foregrounding African agency and progressive religious thought, this highly original intervention counterbalances our knowledge of secular approaches to LGBTI rights in Africa, and powerfully decolonises queer theory, theology and politics.
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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... more
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.
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.
Research Interests: Christianity, Cultural Studies, African Studies, Queer Studies, Religion and Sexuality, and 10 moreContemporary Christianity, Social Activism, Kenya, Religious Studies, LGBT Studies, Sociology of Sexuality, Religion/Spirituality and LGBTI People, LGBT Activism, African Cultural Studies, and African Queer Studies
Issues of homosexuality 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... more
Issues of homosexuality 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.
Complementing the companion volume, ‘Public Religion and the Politics of Homosexuality in Africa’ (2016) this book investigates Christian politics and discourses on homosexuality in sub-Saharan Africa. The contributors present case studies from various African countries, from Nigeria to South Africa and from Cameroon to Uganda, focussing on Pentecostal, Catholic and mainline Protestant churches. They critically examine popular Christian theologies that perpetuate homophobia and discrimination, but they also discuss contestations of such discourses and emerging alternative Christian perspectives that contribute to the recognition of sexual diversity, social justice and human rights in contemporary Africa.
REVIEWS
‘This timely book is a much-needed resource for the facilitation of constructive conversations on sexuality in the African communities, churches and ecumenical movements.’
Musa W. Dube, University of Botswana
‘This book, which is a follow-up to Public Religion and the Politics of Homosexuality in Africa, is starkly illuminating, radically controversial and thought-provoking. They both serve as the catalyst towards breaking the morbid silence on the academic, public discourse on homosexuality in Africa. This book marks a critical watershed in the art of problematizing a practice which many perceive as extraneous to African epistemologies and existential sensibilities. The book is remarkably innovative and I will recommend it, unreservedly, to both “pro- and anti-gay politicians”, but also to avid readers who wish to learn about how the politicization of homosexuality vis-à-vis the religious counterhegemonic discourses has heralded it from whispering rumours into public brouhaha.’
Afe Adogame, The University of Edinburgh, UK
Complementing the companion volume, ‘Public Religion and the Politics of Homosexuality in Africa’ (2016) this book investigates Christian politics and discourses on homosexuality in sub-Saharan Africa. The contributors present case studies from various African countries, from Nigeria to South Africa and from Cameroon to Uganda, focussing on Pentecostal, Catholic and mainline Protestant churches. They critically examine popular Christian theologies that perpetuate homophobia and discrimination, but they also discuss contestations of such discourses and emerging alternative Christian perspectives that contribute to the recognition of sexual diversity, social justice and human rights in contemporary Africa.
REVIEWS
‘This timely book is a much-needed resource for the facilitation of constructive conversations on sexuality in the African communities, churches and ecumenical movements.’
Musa W. Dube, University of Botswana
‘This book, which is a follow-up to Public Religion and the Politics of Homosexuality in Africa, is starkly illuminating, radically controversial and thought-provoking. They both serve as the catalyst towards breaking the morbid silence on the academic, public discourse on homosexuality in Africa. This book marks a critical watershed in the art of problematizing a practice which many perceive as extraneous to African epistemologies and existential sensibilities. The book is remarkably innovative and I will recommend it, unreservedly, to both “pro- and anti-gay politicians”, but also to avid readers who wish to learn about how the politicization of homosexuality vis-à-vis the religious counterhegemonic discourses has heralded it from whispering rumours into public brouhaha.’
Afe Adogame, The University of Edinburgh, UK
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Studies of gender in African Christianity have usually focused on women. This book draws attention to men and constructions of masculinity, particularly important in light of the HIV epidemic which has given rise to a critical... more
Studies of gender in African Christianity have usually focused on women. This book draws attention to men and constructions of masculinity, particularly important in light of the HIV epidemic which has given rise to a critical investigation of dominant forms of masculinity. These are often associated with the spread of HIV, gender-based violence and oppression of women. Against this background Christian theologians and local churches in Africa seek to change men and transform masculinities.
Exploring the complexity and ambiguity of religious gender discourses in contemporary African contexts, this book critically examines the ways in which some progressive African theologians, and a Catholic parish and a Pentecostal church in Zambia, work on a “transformation of masculinities”.
Exploring the complexity and ambiguity of religious gender discourses in contemporary African contexts, this book critically examines the ways in which some progressive African theologians, and a Catholic parish and a Pentecostal church in Zambia, work on a “transformation of masculinities”.
Research Interests: African Studies, Masculinity Studies, African Religion in Africa and the Diaspora, Contemporary Christianity, Masculinities, and 9 moreGender and religion (Women s Studies), World Christianities, Gender Studies (Religion), African theology, African Church History, African Christian Theology, The Study of New Religious Movements in Africa, African Christianity, African Theology, Sexuality and Christianity, African Men and masculinities, and African Masculinities
This interview with Kwame E. Otu (Associate Professor of African Studies, Georgetown University) discusses issues of LGBT rights in Ghana and in Africa more broadly. Occasioned by the publication of Otu's book "Amphibious Subjects: Sasso... more
This interview with Kwame E. Otu (Associate Professor of African Studies, Georgetown University) discusses issues of LGBT rights in Ghana and in Africa more broadly. Occasioned by the publication of Otu's book "Amphibious Subjects: Sasso and the Contested Politics of Queer Self-Making in Neoliberal Ghana" (University of California Press, 2022), the interview explores sasso as an indigenous concept of (same-sex) sexuality, the African philosophy of amphibious subjectivity (Kwame Gyeke), and the religious framing of both African anti-LGBT politics and Western queer humanitarianism.
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Citizenship in sub-Saharan Africa has undergone profound changes in recent decades as part of wider social and political dynamics. One notable development is the emergence of Christianity, especially in its Pentecostal-Charismatic forms,... more
Citizenship in sub-Saharan Africa has undergone profound changes in recent decades as part of wider social and political dynamics. One notable development is the emergence of Christianity, especially in its Pentecostal-Charismatic forms, as a public religion. Christian actors, beliefs and practices have increasingly come to manifest themselves in the public sphere, actively engage with politics, define narratives of nationhood, and shape notions of citizenship. A second major development is the emergence of sexuality as a critical site of citizenship and nationhood in postcolonial Africa. On the one hand, many political and religious leaders are invested in a popular ideology of the heterosexual family as the basis of nation-building, while on the other hand, LGBT communities are becoming more visible and claim recognition from the state. The contributions to this special issue engage these two contrasting developments, examining the interconnections between Christianity, sexuality and citizenship empirically and theoretically through case studies in various African contexts and from several academic disciplines and critical perspectives.
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Against the background of the current politicisation of homosexuality and the policing of sexual citizenship in Kenya and other African countries, this article offers an analysis of the Kenyan gay music video Same Love, released by the... more
Against the background of the current politicisation of homosexuality and the policing of sexual citizenship in Kenya and other African countries, this article offers an analysis of the Kenyan gay music video Same Love, released by the band Art Attack in 2016. Employing the concept of acts of citizenship, the article foregrounds the political, ethical and aesthetical aspects through which the lyrics and images of Same Love perform an act of sexual citizenship mediated through art. It argues that as an artistic intervention, the video interrogates popular narratives of homosexuality as un-Kenyan, un-African and un-Christian and creates a sense of a citizenship that is yet to come: a pan-African, Christian and queer citizenship of love. Thus, the article explores the new possibilities of cultural, sexual and religious citizenship created through popular culture and public space in contemporary Africa.
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Taking up the concept of the pluriversity as developed by mostly South American thinkers, this essay shares some thoughts about what the study of religion/s might look like if we seriously engage with questions of decolonisation. Building... more
Taking up the concept of the pluriversity as developed by mostly South American thinkers, this essay shares some thoughts about what the study of religion/s might look like if we seriously engage with questions of decolonisation. Building on the critique of the dominant Western, Eurocentric, colonialist and racialised models of thought that have historically shaped the field, I make a constructive proposal for an approach to the study of religion/s that centres around three Ps: a commitment to Pluriversality, an acknowledgment of Partiality, and a commitment to Participatory work. I illustrate this with some specific examples from studying religion in contemporary African contexts.
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In this interview, Rev. Dr Bishop Christopher Senyonjo narrates his involvement in LGBT advocacy in Uganda, and reflects on his pastoral and theological motivation and inspiration for this work.
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The study of religion and literature has so far mostly been concerned with literary texts from Western texts and traditions and has demonstrated little interest in African literary texts and religious traditions. The study of religion in... more
The study of religion and literature has so far mostly been concerned with literary texts from Western texts and traditions and has demonstrated little interest in African literary texts and religious traditions. The study of religion in Africa, on the other hand, has demonstrated little engagement with literature as a methodological entrance to understanding religion as part of African social and cultural life. This study guide
aims to open up religion in African literature as an exciting and productive field of study that is of critical interest to students of African literature, religion and literature, and African religions. The focus of this guide is on postcolonial and contemporary Anglophone literature from across sub‐Saharan Africa, both relating to indigenous religions, Christianity and Islam as culturally embedded in African histories, cultures and societies.
aims to open up religion in African literature as an exciting and productive field of study that is of critical interest to students of African literature, religion and literature, and African religions. The focus of this guide is on postcolonial and contemporary Anglophone literature from across sub‐Saharan Africa, both relating to indigenous religions, Christianity and Islam as culturally embedded in African histories, cultures and societies.
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Africa has become a key site of masculinity politics, that is, of mobilisations and struggles where masculine gender is made a principal theme and subjected to change. Pentecostalism is widely considered to present a particular form of... more
Africa has become a key site of masculinity politics, that is, of mobilisations and struggles where masculine gender is made a principal theme and subjected to change. Pentecostalism is widely considered to present a particular form of masculinity politics in contemporary African societies. Scholarship on African Pentecostal masculinities has mainly centred around the thesis of the domestication of men, focusing on changes in domestic spheres and in marital and intimate relations. Through an analysis of a sermon series preached by a prominent Zambian Pentecostal pastor, this article demonstrates that Pentecostal discourse on adult, middle- to upper-class masculinity is also highly concerned with men’s roles in sociopolitical spheres. It argues that in this case study the construction of a born-again masculinity is part of the broader Pentecostal political project of national redemption, which in Zambia has particular significance in light of the country constitutionally being a Chri...
This opening article offers an introduction to the theme of this special issue of Exchange: Jesus traditions and masculinities in world Christianity. Highlighting the historical trajectory of feminist theological debates on the maleness... more
This opening article offers an introduction to the theme of this special issue of Exchange: Jesus traditions and masculinities in world Christianity. Highlighting the historical trajectory of feminist theological debates on the maleness of Jesus Christ and its implications for configurations of gender (read: the position of women) in Christian traditions, the article particularly explores two recent developments: first, the critical discussion in academic, theological and ecumenical circles of men and masculinities in contemporary Christian contexts, and second, the growing body of scholarship on the masculinity (or better, masculinities) of Jesus Christ in the New Testament in relation to masculinities in the early Christian era. Building on these debates and this scholarship, the article identifies a new and critical field of inquiry that explores the complex and productive relationships between the ambiguous and unstable masculinity/ies of Jesus Christ and the multiple and changi...
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Research Interests: Christianity, Psychology, African Studies, Gender Studies, Human Rights, and 15 moreQueer Theology, Africa, Prejudice, LGBT Issues, Culture, Medicine, Homosexuality, African theology, Church and Homosexuality, Humans, Human right, African Christianity, Qualitative Analysis, Religion and Sex, and HIV infections
This article explores the role of poetry and narrative methods in African-centred queer biblical studies and theology. As a case in point, it presents a poem, titled "Accused of a Sodomy Act," by Tom Muyunga-Mukasa, that was written as... more
This article explores the role of poetry and narrative methods in African-centred queer biblical studies and theology. As a case in point, it presents a poem, titled "Accused of a Sodomy Act," by Tom Muyunga-Mukasa, that was written as part of a queer Bible reading project with Ugandan LGBTQ refugees. The poem is a contemporary re-telling of the gospel story about Jesus and the "woman caught in adultery" in the context of socio-political homophobia in Uganda. The poem is complemented by an autobiographical reflection by the writer, providing insight into his personal experiences of growing up as gay and religious in Uganda. This is embedded in a more general discussion, relating the poem to trends of life storytelling in African LGBTQ activism, and to established narrative methodologies in African theological and biblical studies scholarship. Overall, the article makes a methodological contribution, by foregrounding queer poetry and storytelling as innovations in African narrative hermeneutics that expand the established concern with gender and sexuality beyond a heterosexual framework, and that include the marginalised voices and experiences of LGBTQ people.
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The study of religion and literature is an emerging field of academic interest. Although some work has been done on religion and African literature, research in this area tends to be fragmented and dispersed over various fields and... more
The study of religion and literature is an emerging field of academic interest. Although some work has been done on religion and African literature, research in this area tends to be fragmented and dispersed over various fields and disciplines. Reviewing available scholarship in this area, this article explores what engaging with African literary writing brings to the table of the study of religion in Africa. Focusing on postcolonial and contemporary African literature, it identifies a threefold contribution: first, the creative representation of religious traditions and dynamics; second, the critique of religious beliefs and institutions; third, the imagination of alternative religious possibilities. It illustrates these contributions by specifically focusing on issues of (neo)colonialism, gender and sexuality. Hence the article foregrounds the importance of engaging with religion for interpreting African literary texts, and the significance of literary writing for understanding religion as part of African social and cultural life.
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This article is a response to a Religious Studies Review roundtable discussion of my book, Kenyan, Christian, Queer: Religion, LGBT Activism, and Arts of Resistance in Africa (Penn State University Press, 2019). The roundtable... more
This article is a response to a Religious Studies Review roundtable discussion of my book, Kenyan, Christian, Queer: Religion, LGBT Activism, and Arts of Resistance in Africa (Penn State University Press, 2019). The roundtable contributions make me reflect on the ways in which Kenyan, Christian, Queer presents a methodological innovation in the study of religion. This innovation is captured, in good queer spirit, as a number of transgressions: of academic disciplines, of distance toward sources and research subjects, and of religion as the object of analysis.
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This article is a response to the roundtable about my book Kenyan, Christian, Queer: Religion, LGBT Activism, and Arts of Resistance in Africa. In the roundtable, six anthropologists engage the book critically. In the response, I address... more
This article is a response to the roundtable about my book Kenyan, Christian, Queer: Religion, LGBT Activism, and Arts of Resistance in Africa. In the roundtable, six anthropologists engage the book critically. In the response, I address some of their criticisms and the questions raised, focusing on three central themes: Christianity and the postsecular turn; queer theory and the theological turn; interludes and the self-reflexive turn.
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Taking up the concept of the pluriversity as developed by mostly South American thinkers, this essay shares some thoughts about what the study of religion/s might look like if we seriously engage with questions of decolonisation. Building... more
Taking up the concept of the pluriversity as developed by mostly South American thinkers, this essay shares some thoughts about what the study of religion/s might look like if we seriously engage with questions of decolonisation. Building on the critique of the dominant Western, Eurocentric, colonialist and racialised models of thought that have historically shaped the field, I make a constructive proposal for an approach to the study of religion/s that centres around three Ps: a commitment to Pluriversality, an acknowledgment of Partiality, and a commitment to Participatory work. I illustrate this with some specific examples from studying religion in contemporary African contexts.
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This article addresses a methodological question: How to develop African queer theology? That is, a theology that interrogates and counter-balances popular representations of queer sexuality as being “un-African” and “un-Christian”.... more
This article addresses a methodological question: How to develop African queer theology? That is, a theology that interrogates and counter-balances popular representations of queer sexuality as being “un-African” and “un-Christian”. Answering this question, the article specifically engages with African feminist theological work on storytelling as politically empowering and theologically significant. Where African feminist theologians have used her-stories to develop her-theologies, this article suggests that similarly, queer autobiographical storytelling can be a basis for developing queer theologies. It applies this methodology to the Kenyan queer anthology Stories of Our Lives (2015), which is a collection of autobiographical stories narrated by people identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex (lgbti) or otherwise queer in Kenya. The article concludes with an intertextual reading of Stories of Our Lives and Mercy Oduyoye’s autobiographical essay about childlessness, pointing towards an African narrative queer theology of fruitfulness.
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In order to challenge and decenter monolithic narratives about Christian-inspired homophobia in Africa, this article draws attention to Christian countermobilizations that seek to affirm the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and... more
In order to challenge and decenter monolithic narratives about Christian-inspired homophobia in Africa, this article draws attention to Christian countermobilizations that seek to affirm the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Africa. It focuses on the work of an African American organization, The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries (TFAM), to build a Pan-African LGBT-affirming Christian movement. TFAM presents its work as a response to the involvement of American white conservative evangelicals in the spread of homophobia in Africa. Where the latter has been framed as the export of American culture wars, this article discusses TFAM's work as an attempt to counterbalance the culture wars and to define the future of African Christianity in progressive ways. The article proceeds by discussing one of the fruits of TFAM's activities, an LGBT church in Nairobi, Kenya, and concludes by examining the overall significance and potential impact of TFAM's work.
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This article explores the intersections of religion, embodiment and queer sexuality in the autobiographic account of a South African self-identifying 'lesbian sangoma', on the basis of the book Black Bull, Ancestors and Me: My Life as a... more
This article explores the intersections of religion, embodiment and queer sexuality in the autobiographic account of a South African self-identifying 'lesbian sangoma', on the basis of the book Black Bull, Ancestors and Me: My Life as a Lesbian Sangoma, by Nkunzi Zandile Nkabinde. The article offers an intertextual reading of this primary text, first vis-à-vis David Chidester's Wild Religion: Tracking the Sacred in South Africa, and second, vis-à-vis some black lesbian feminist writings, specifically by Audre Lorde, M. Jacqui Alexander, and Gloria Wekker. This intertextual reading foregrounds the embodied and in fact queer nature of the wild forces of indigenous religion in contemporary South Africa, and it illuminates how embodied and erotic experience is grounded in the domain of the sacred. Hence the article concludes by arguing for a decolonising and post-secular move in the field of African queer studies, underlining the need to take the sacred seriously as a site of queer subjectivity.
Research Interests: Religion, African Studies, Queer Studies, Anthropology of the Body, Indigenous Religions, and 14 moreSexuality, Gender and Sexuality, Gay And Lesbian Studies, Lesbian Studies, Embodiment, The Body, Religious Studies, South Africa, Zulu cultural history, Queer Theory; Religion; Gender, African Queer Studies, Sangomas, Queer Theory and Religion, and David Chidester
This article is a contribution towards the development of queer theologies in contemporary African contexts. Based on fieldwork in the gay community in Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia, the article explores the significance of the... more
This article is a contribution towards the development of queer theologies in contemporary African contexts. Based on fieldwork in the gay community in Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia, the article explores the significance of the theological notion of the Imago Dei, the Image of God, in the self-understanding of Zambian gay men as being gay and Christian. Bringing this incipient grassroots theology into conversation with broader theological discourses, in particular African theology (including African women's theology) and queer theology, we interrogate current understandings of the Imago Dei that either ignore sexuality or exclude same-sex loving people (in African theology) or that conceptualize queerness from white Western privileged perspectives (in queer theology). Hence we develop the notion of the Imago Dei as a stepping stone towards an African queer theology.
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On the basis of a study of a group of Zambian men identifying both as gay and as Christian, this article explores the negotiation of sexual and religious identity and critically addresses the “surprise” some scholars have expressed about... more
On the basis of a study of a group of Zambian men identifying both as gay and as Christian, this article explores the negotiation of sexual and religious identity and critically addresses the “surprise” some scholars have expressed about the general religiosity of LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex) people in Africa. The study demonstrates that participants are not just victims subjected to homophobic religious and political discourses but have agency: resisting discourses of demonization, they humanize themselves by making claims towards the universal category of love—both their own inclination to loving relationships and their share in God’s love. Hence they claim space for themselves as full citizens of Zambia as a “Christian nation”. This article particularly highlights how some aspects of Pentecostalism appear to contribute to “queer empowerment”, and argues that the religiosity of African LGBTIs critically interrogates Euro-American secular models of LGBTI liberation.
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Zambia has recently witnessed heated public and political debates over issues of homosexuality and gay or LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) rights. This article explores these debates with particular reference to... more
Zambia has recently witnessed heated public and political debates over issues of homosexuality and gay or LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) rights. This article explores these debates with particular reference to the new draft constitution and the role of the Human Rights Commission (HRC). Homosexuality and LGBTI rights became heavily politicized during the constitutional review process. Discussions emerged not only about the penal code that prohibits same-sex practices, but also about the anti-discrimination clause in the constitution. The HRC explicitly warned against an inclusive formulation of this clause to prevent it from being applied to sexual orientation. Offering a critical historical and religio-political reconstruction of the politicization of homosexuality in the constitutional review process and examining the ambivalent contribution of the HRC, this article analyses these dynamics in relation to the political imagination of Zambia as a Christian nation. The article argues that the ambivalent contribution of the HRC must be understood as a complex negotiation of the moral and religious sensibilities in society, and of popular political and religious rhetoric. However, the analysis also demonstrates that the logic of the Christian nation, and its subsequent moral geography, has begun to be subverted by a marginal yet important counter-narrative.
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This case-study based paper on Uganda critically engages with the strategic visual representation of homosexuality as socially dysfunctional and non-productive, reflecting what in queer studies is called ‘queer social negativity’. This... more
This case-study based paper on Uganda critically engages with the strategic visual representation of homosexuality as socially dysfunctional and non-productive, reflecting what in queer studies is called ‘queer social negativity’. This depiction ensues from current popular Ugandan understandings of sexuality that are deeply rooted in the socio-moral order of family and kinship promoted by Evangelical and Pentecostal Christianity. The Ugandan pastor Martin Ssempa – leader of the Interfaith Rainbow Coalition against Homosexuality and successful campaigner for the Anti-Homosexuality Bill – has become internationally known due to his infamous presentation at a press conference in his church where he screened graphic gay porn material. The video of Ssempa’s presentation has become an epitome of the moral and religious politics of homosexuality in Uganda generating worldwide controversy. Despite recent scholarship on anti-homosexual rhetoric and politics in Uganda, in which the name of Ssempa is often mentioned, the specific significance of the use of pornographic images by this prominent religious leader has not yet been analysed in depth. The discussion of the reconstructed reality of homosexuality and the modern witch-hunt for homosexuals in Uganda urges us to think about the deep-seated socio-political dynamics and the broader transnational context of religion.
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Building upon debates about the politics of nationalism and sexuality in post-colonial Africa, this article highlights the role of religion in shaping nationalist ideologies that seek to regulate homosexuality. It specifically focuses on... more
Building upon debates about the politics of nationalism and sexuality in post-colonial Africa, this article highlights the role of religion in shaping nationalist ideologies that seek to regulate homosexuality. It specifically focuses on Pentecostal Christianity in Zambia, where the constitutional declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation has given rise to a form of ‘Pentecostal nationalism’ in which homosexuality is considered to be a threat to the purity of the nation and is associated with the Devil. The article offers an analysis of recent Zambian public debates about homosexuality, focusing on the ways in which the ‘Christian nation’ argument is deployed, primarily in a discourse of anti-homonationalism, but also by a few recent dissident voices. The latter prevent Zambia, and Christianity, from accruing a monolithic depiction as homophobic. Showing that the Zambian case presents a mobilisation against homosexuality that is profoundly shaped by the local configuration in which Christianity defines national identity – and in which Pentecostal-Christian moral concerns and theo-political imaginations shape public debates and politics – the article nuances arguments that explain African controversies regarding homosexuality in terms of exported American culture wars, proposing an alternative reading of these controversies as emerging from conflicting visions of modernity in Africa.1
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Building on scholarly debates on Pentecostalism, gender and modernity in Africa, this article engages a postcolonial perspective to explore and discuss the ambivalent, even paradoxical nature of African Pentecostal gender discourse. It... more
Building on scholarly debates on Pentecostalism, gender and modernity in Africa, this article engages a postcolonial perspective to explore and discuss the ambivalent, even paradoxical nature of African Pentecostal gender discourse. It analyses the conceptualization of gender equality, in particular the attempt to reconcile the notions of ‘male–female equality’ and ‘male headship’, in a sermon series delivered by a prominent Zambian Pentecostal pastor, and argues that the appropriation and interruption of Western notions of gender equality in these sermons can be interpreted, in the words of Homi Bhabha, as a catachrestic postcolonial translation of modernity. Hence, the article critically discusses the Western ethnocentrism in some scholarly debates on gender and Pentecostalism in Africa, and points to some of the fundamental questions that Pentecostalism and its ambivalent gender discourse pose to gender-critical scholarship in the study of religion.
Research Interests: Religion, Christianity, Postcolonial Studies, African Religion in Africa and the Diaspora, Contemporary Christianity, and 7 moreAnthropology of Christianity, Gender Equality, Gender and religion (Women s Studies), Pentecostalism, Gender Studies (Religion), Religious Studies, and African pentecostalism
This article contributes to the understanding of the role of religion in the public and political controversies about homosexuality in Africa. As a case study it investigates the heated public debate in Zambia following a February 2012... more
This article contributes to the understanding of the role of religion in the public and political controversies about homosexuality in Africa. As a case study it investigates the heated public debate in Zambia following a February 2012 visit by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who emphasised the need for the country to recognise the human rights of homosexuals. The focus is on a particular Christian discourse in this debate, in which the international pressure to recognise gay rights is considered a sign of the end times, and Ban Ki-moon, the UN and other international organisations are associated with the Antichrist and the Devil. Here, the debate about homosexuality becomes eschatologically enchanted through millennialist thought. Building on discussions about public religion and religion and politics in Africa, this article avoids popular explanations in terms of fundamentalist religion and African homophobia, but rather highlights the political significance of this discourse in a postcolonial African context.
Research Interests: Religion, Christianity, Human Rights, Religion and Politics, Religion and Sexuality, and 17 moreAfrican Religion in Africa and the Diaspora, Contemporary Christianity, LGBT Issues, Eschatology and Apocalypticism, Religion and Human Rights, Religion and politics in Africa, Pentecostalism, Millennial religions, Eschatology, Zambia, Religious Studies, Devil, Spiritual Warfare, Enchantment, LGBT rights, Gay Rights, and Religion and the Public Sphere
St Joachim, who according to the apocryphal Protoevangelium Jacobi is the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus, is the patron saint of a Catholic Men’s Organization in Zambia which promotes him as model of Catholic manhood. Through a case... more
St Joachim, who according to the apocryphal Protoevangelium Jacobi is the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus, is the patron saint of a Catholic Men’s Organization in Zambia which promotes him as model of Catholic manhood. Through a case study of this organization, this article explores the intersections of religion, men and masculinity in a contemporary African Catholic context, in relation to broader discussions on African masculinities. The focus is on the practice of imitation of St Joachim and its effects on masculinity as the symbolic, discursive and performative construction of embodied male gender identity. Two theoretical concepts inform the analysis, being the notion of imitation as a hermeneutical process and Michel Foucault’s conceptualization of the technologies or hermeneutics of the self. The article shows
how a sacred text is mobilized and inspires a communal imitative practice through which men are shaped, and shape themselves, after a religious ideal of masculinity.
how a sacred text is mobilized and inspires a communal imitative practice through which men are shaped, and shape themselves, after a religious ideal of masculinity.
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The born-again discourse is a central characteristic of Pentecostal Christianity in Africa. In the study of African Christianities, this discourse and the way it (re)shapes people’s moral, religious, and social identities has received... more
The born-again discourse is a central characteristic of Pentecostal Christianity in Africa. In the study of African Christianities, this discourse and the way it (re)shapes people’s moral, religious, and social identities has received much attention. However, hardly any attention has been paid to its effects on men as gendered beings. In the study of men and masculinities in Africa, on the other hand, neither religion in general nor born-again Christianity in particular are taken into account as relevant factors in the construction of masculinities. On the basis of a detailed analysis of interviews with men who are members of a Pentecostal church in Lusaka, Zambia, this article investigates how men’s gender identities are reshaped by becoming and being born-again and how born-again conversion produces new forms of masculinity. The observed Pentecostal transformation of masculinity is interpreted in relation to men’s social vulnerability, particularly in the context of the HIV epidemic in Zambia.
Research Interests: Religion, African Studies, Men's Studies, Masculinity Studies, African Religion in Africa and the Diaspora, and 12 moreAnthropology of Christianity, Religious Conversion, Masculinities, Studies On Men And Masculinity, Gender and religion (Women s Studies), Pentecostalism, Zambia, Gender Studies (Religion), Religious Studies, Anthropology of Religion, African Men and masculinities, and African Masculinities
Against the background of the HIV epidemic and the intense public controversy on homosexuality in African societies, this article investigates the discourses of academic African Christian theologians on homosexuality. Distinguishing some... more
Against the background of the HIV epidemic and the intense public controversy on homosexuality in African societies, this article investigates the discourses of academic African Christian theologians on homosexuality. Distinguishing some major strands in African theology, that is, inculturation, liberation, women's and reconstruction theology, the article examines how the central concepts of culture, liberation, justice, and human rights function in these discourses. On the basis of a qualitative analysis of a large number of publications, the article shows that stances of African theologians are varying from silence and rejection to acceptance. Although many African theologians have taken up the cudgels against gay rights, some “dissident voices” break the taboo and develop more inclusive concepts of African identity and African Christianity.
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In some Christian circles in Africa, male headship is a defining notion of masculinity. The central question in this article is how discourses on masculinity that affirm male headship can be understood. A review of recent scholarship on... more
In some Christian circles in Africa, male headship is a defining notion of masculinity. The central question in this article is how discourses on masculinity that affirm male headship can be understood. A review of recent scholarship on masculinities and religion shows that male headship is often interpreted in terms of male dominance. However, a case study of sermons in a Zambian Pentecostal church shows that discourse on male headship can be far more complex and can even contribute to a transformation of masculinities. The main argument is that a monolithic concept of patriarchy hinders a nuanced analysis of the meaning and function of male headship in local contexts. The suggestion is that in some contexts male headship can be understood in terms of agency.
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This article offers a critical analysis of a series of sermons entitled Fatherhood in the 21st Century preached in a Zambian Pentecostal church, in which homosexuality is an explicit theme. The sermons are discussed in relation to the... more
This article offers a critical analysis of a series of sermons entitled Fatherhood in the 21st Century preached in a Zambian Pentecostal church, in which homosexuality is an explicit theme. The sermons are discussed in relation to the broader controversy on homosexuality in African Christianity. While it is often suggested that African Christian leaders actively oppose same-sex relationships to profile themselves in local and global contexts, the case study reveals an additional factor. Homosexuality is also used in the politics of gender, particularly masculinity, within the church. The references to homosexuality in the sermons create a counter-image of the promoted ideal of “biblical manhood”. A stereotypical homosexual was constructed, who represents two of the main concerns about Zambian men: their preoccupation with sexuality and their indifference towards the male role they are to play. This article reveals the heteronormative politics and theology underlying “biblical manhood” and points to the problematic consequences in relation to HIV&AIDS. It also suggests how to interrogate and rethink “biblical manhood” from the perspective of queer theology.
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Research Interests: Catholic Studies, Masculinity Studies, African Religion in Africa and the Diaspora, Masculinity, Popular/Folk Catholicism, and 5 moreMasculinities, Gender and religion (Women s Studies), Gender Studies (Religion), Constructions of masculinity, and African Church History, African Christian Theology, The Study of New Religious Movements in Africa
This article explores the global implications of the statement from African theologians that the body of Christ has AIDS. It will outline how these theologians employ the metaphor of the body of Christ to challenge the western world to... more
This article explores the global implications of the statement from African theologians that the body of Christ has AIDS. It will outline how these theologians employ the metaphor of the body of Christ to challenge the western world to enter into solidarity with Africa struck by HIV and AIDS. From the realization that the HIV epidemic is embedded in globalization processes, and from the understanding of contextual theologies as significant to western theology, it is argued that western theologians have to take seriously the critical African questions. Hence the article investigates what it means for the western world to say that the body of Christ has AIDS, and how this metaphor helps to envision global solidarity in light of the HIV epidemic.
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This article offers an extended review of some recent publications in the field of African theology and HIV and AIDS. Hence it critically examines the progress that is made in the engagement with and the reflection on issues related to... more
This article offers an extended review of some recent publications in the field of African theology and HIV and AIDS. Hence it critically examines the progress that is made in the engagement with and the reflection on issues related to the HIV epidemic by African theologians. The article notices the emergence of a new strand of Africa theology, a (liberation) theology of HIV and AIDS, which builds on and employs the classic strands of African liberation, inculturation, reconstruction and women’s theology. Moreover, some challenging issues for the further African theological engagement with HIV and AIDS are identified.
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As a result of the HIV epidemic, masculinities in sub-Saharan Africa have become problematised. There is called for a transformation of masculinities. But what is the vision of such a transformation? This article explores the different... more
As a result of the HIV epidemic, masculinities in sub-Saharan Africa have become problematised. There is called for a transformation of masculinities. But what is the vision of such a transformation? This article explores the different visions and strategies proposed by on the one hand some African theologians and on the other hand a local Pentecostal church. The fundamental difference is that the church seeks to transform masculinity within a patriarchal framework while the theologians envision a transformation of masculinity beyond patriarchy, towards a reality called “gender justice”. The article critically analyses and discusses the different masculinity politics and makes a constructive contribution to the debate by providing an eschatological perspective to the transformation of masculinities.
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In the response of African theologians to the challenges raised by HIV and AIDS, they often refer to the metaphor of the body of Christ. This article investigates how this metaphor is used and understood by African theologians, and why it... more
In the response of African theologians to the challenges raised by HIV and AIDS, they often refer to the metaphor of the body of Christ. This article investigates how this metaphor is used and understood by African theologians, and why it has become so prominent in their reflections on the reality of HIV and AIDS. Two dimensions of the metaphor are highlighted: an ecclesiological one, concerning the church and its mission in the context of HIV and AIDS, and a sacramental one, concerning the significance of the Eucharist/Holy Communion in the HIV and AIDS context. It is argued that the particular attraction of the metaphor is in its notion of solidarity. For this reason, "the body of Christ" has become a central biblical metaphor in what can be called an HIV and AIDS liberation theology. Furthermore, it is argued that the use of the metaphor of the body of Christ in African theologies responding to HIV and AIDS has a theological impact that transcends the African context. This raises critical questions for Christian churches and for theology worldwide.
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This chapter examines the role of religion, specifically Christianity, in the politics of sexuality in post-colonial Zambia. Building on Basile Ndjio's account of sexual politics and post-colonial nationalism in the context of Cameroon, I... more
This chapter examines the role of religion, specifically Christianity, in the politics of sexuality in post-colonial Zambia. Building on Basile Ndjio's account of sexual politics and post-colonial nationalism in the context of Cameroon, I apply the four strategies distinguished by Ndjio to the Zambian context: the sublimation of procreative and reproductive sexuality; the essentialization and racialization of native Africans' sexuality; the segregation and symbolic 'othering' of homosexuals; and the criminalization and demonization of homoerotic practices. These strategies manifest themselves in unique, though interrelated ways in the Kaunda era of 'Zambian humanism' and in the era of 'Christian nationalism' since President Chiluba. In particular, I highlight the considerable influence of Christianity, especially in its Pentecostal form, on Zambian politics and nationalism, including on nationalist politics of sexuality and the opposition against sexual minorities.
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This chapter critically examines Zambian responses to European interventions with regard to the human rights of sexual minorities in the country. It specifically focuses on one particular incident occurring in 2013. The chapter, first,... more
This chapter critically examines Zambian responses to European interventions with regard to the human rights of sexual minorities in the country. It specifically focuses on one particular incident occurring in 2013. The chapter, first, discusses the background and context of this incident, which emerged after the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Zambia launched a call for funding proposals specifically mentioning the promotion of LGBTI rights. This is discussed in relation to wider EU involvement in Africa, especially in the area of the politics of sexuality. Second, the chapter discusses the way in which Zambian political and religious leaders responded to the EU call for proposals, providing a critical analysis of the discourse of “Zambian Christian values” and “traditional beliefs,” as well as the invocation of democracy and human rights, by prominent spokespersons. We conceptualize the Zambian response in a postcolonial framework as a case of “the empire speaking back,” while drawing critical attention to the ambiguity of this.
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This chapter focuses on Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa, and his contribution to debates about sexual diversity and Christianity in Africa. It examines how Tutu’s progressive stance on same-sex sexuality... more
This chapter focuses on Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa, and his contribution to debates about sexual diversity and Christianity in Africa. It examines how Tutu’s progressive stance on same-sex sexuality gradually developed over the years and is informed by his long-standing resistance against apartheid and his defense of black civil rights in South Africa. It argues that at the heart of both struggles – around race and sexuality – is Tutu’s strong commitment to affirming human diversity and to defending the dignity and rights of all people. The chapter locates this commitment in Tutu’s African black theological thinking that centers around the biblical notion of the Imago Dei (the image of God) and the indigenous notion of ubuntu.
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Building on feminist, queer and postcolonial concepts of trauma as everyday and ongoing, this chapter explores the trauma experienced by Ugandan LGBT+ refugees currently living in Nairobi, Kenya. Expanding on traditions of African women’s... more
Building on feminist, queer and postcolonial concepts of trauma as everyday and ongoing, this chapter explores the trauma experienced by Ugandan LGBT+ refugees currently living in Nairobi, Kenya. Expanding on traditions of African women’s biblical hermeneutics, storytelling methods, and creative arts, the chapter specifically offers an account of how a process of contextual and creative bible study and dramatisation about the story of Daniel in the lions’ den provided an interface for participating refugees to work through trauma and engage in a restorative and healing praxis. In the light of the status of the Bible in postcolonial African Christian societies, as a widely known book holding sacred status, and of the problematic role of the Bible in the contemporary politics of queer sexualities in Africa, this chapter contends that it is vital to engage and appropriate the Bible as a resource for affirming, empowering and healing African queer communities traumatised by socio-political homophobia and its multiple effects.
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This chapter demonstrates the plurality of Pentecostal discourses on, and attitudes toward, issues of sexual diversity in Africana (African and African diaspora) contexts. It distinguishes and explores three discursive registers through... more
This chapter demonstrates the plurality of Pentecostal discourses on, and attitudes toward, issues of sexual diversity in Africana (African and African diaspora) contexts. It distinguishes and explores three discursive registers through which Pentecostals engage in sexual worldmaking: spirits, eschatology, and mission. The chapter demonstrates that each of these complementary frames is broad and flexible enough to allow for very different theological narratives and socio-political implications. Thus, although Pentecostal sexual worldmaking takes place within these discursive frames, reflecting the family resemblances within global, and specifically Africana Pentecostalism, the discourses within these frames reflect a considerable degree of flexibility and plurality and thus represent very different possibilities of Pentecostal sexual politics. In Pentecostal Christianities, the emphasis on the Holy Spirit tends to come with a broader concern with spiritual realities which often are understood in a dualist scheme of God and the Holy Spirit versus the devil, demons, and evil spirits.
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This chapter critically examines Zambian responses to European interventions with regard to the human rights of sexual minorities in the country. It specifically focuses on one particular incident, occurring in 2013. The chapter, first,... more
This chapter critically examines Zambian responses to European interventions with regard to the human rights of sexual minorities in the country. It specifically focuses on one particular incident, occurring in 2013. The chapter, first, discusses the background and context of this incident, which emerged after the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Zambia launched a call for funding proposals specifically mentioning the promotion of LGBTI rights. This is discussed in relation to wider EU involvement with Africa, especially in the area of politics of sexuality. Second, the chapter discusses the way in which Zambian political and religious leaders responded to the EU call for proposals, providing a critical analysis of the discourse of “Zambian Christian values” and “traditional beliefs”, as well as the invocation of democracy and human rights, by prominent spokespersons. We conceptualize the Zambian response in a postcolonial framework as a case of “the empire speaking back”, w...
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This chapter explores the emergence of a new genre of African films: queer-themed audio-visual productions. It specifically focuses on two films from Kenya – the music video Same Love, produced by George Barasa (2016), and the drama film... more
This chapter explores the emergence of a new genre of African films: queer-themed audio-visual productions. It specifically focuses on two films from Kenya – the music video Same Love, produced by George Barasa (2016), and the drama film Rafiki, directed by Wanuri Kahiu (2018) – which both present a form of queer visual activism. Analysing the imagery and lyrics/texts of the films, the chapter specifically explores how Christianity is engaged as a key site of struggle about same-sex love in Kenya, but also as a site of alternative imagination. It argues that both films critique dominant forms of Christianity in Kenya for their intricate connection to homophobia, yet also allude to the possibility of a queer reclaiming of Christianity as a site of affirmation and empowerment of same-sex loving people.
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This chapter critically examines Zambian responses to European interventions with regard to the human rights of sexual minorities in the country. It specifically focuses on one particular incident occurring in 2013. The chapter, first,... more
This chapter critically examines Zambian responses to European interventions with regard to the human rights of sexual minorities in the country. It specifically focuses on one particular incident occurring in 2013. The chapter, first, discusses the background and context of this incident, which emerged after the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Zambia launched a call for funding proposals specifically mentioning the promotion of LGBTI rights. This is discussed in relation to wider EU involvement in Africa, especially in the area of the politics of sexuality. Second, the chapter discusses the way in which Zambian political and religious leaders responded to the EU call for proposals, providing a critical analysis of the discourse of “Zambian Christian values” and “traditional beliefs,” as well as the invocation of democracy and human rights, by prominent spokespersons. We conceptualize the Zambian response in a postcolonial framework as a case of “the empire speaking back,” while drawing critical attention to the ambiguity of this.
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This chapter focuses on pan-Africanist discourses in contemporary Africa specifically in relation to the politics of sexual and gender diversity. It begins by examining the populist use of pan-Africanist rhetoric in narratives mobilizing... more
This chapter focuses on pan-Africanist discourses in contemporary Africa specifically in relation to the politics of sexual and gender diversity. It begins by examining the populist use of pan-Africanist rhetoric in narratives mobilizing against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) identities and rights. It then proceeds by discussing an emerging counter-narratives employed by LGBTI activists, communities, and allies, in which pan-Africanist thought is used to reimagine Africa from queer perspectives. Finally, it examines the strategic invocation of transatlantic black memory and black traditions of thought within these pan-Africanist queer counter-narratives and explores their political significance. Thus, this chapter foregrounds and explores how, in the words of Hakima Abbas and Amina Mama, 'Pan-Africanism as theory and praxis is in constant dialectic with other African political and intellectual thought including socialism, Black consciousness, Black nationalism, African queer thought and activism, as well as in polemic counter-position with present-day manifestations of imperialism.'
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Autobiographical, embodied and sexual storytelling is of great political and theological significance. Taking up Marcella Althaus-Reid’s suggestion that queer theologies are by definition first person theologies, in this essay I engage in... more
Autobiographical, embodied and sexual storytelling is of great political and theological significance. Taking up Marcella Althaus-Reid’s suggestion that queer theologies are by definition first person theologies, in this essay I engage in storytelling, specifically the telling of autobiographical sexual stories, as a key queer theological method that enables a dialectical reflection on queer lives. Sharing my experiences, as a white European gay man, with sexuality and race in South Africa, I perform an act of disclosure of my HIV status while claiming the body of Christ as an intimate space of vulnerability that enables solidarity and publicity.
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This chapter examines the continuity and change of religion, sexuality and citizenship in postcolonial Zambia. It compares the discursive politics of sexual citizenship under President Kenneth Kaunda and his philosophy of Zambian... more
This chapter examines the continuity and change of religion, sexuality and citizenship in postcolonial Zambia. It compares the discursive politics of sexual citizenship under President Kenneth Kaunda and his philosophy of Zambian Humanism, and in the post-Kaunda era when Zambia was officially declared a "Christian Nation". Humanism and Christian nationalism represent two dominant narratives of nationhood in postcolonial Zambia. The chapter introduces, contextualises and examines these narratives, highlighting significant differences but also identifying striking continuities especially in relation to sexual citizenship, thus interrogating any simplistic binary between the two narratives.
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This chapter explores the complex relationship between the assumed or proclaimed maleness of God and human masculinities, mostly with reference to Judeo-Christian traditions. It discusses the ways in which scholars of different academic... more
This chapter explores the complex relationship between the assumed or proclaimed maleness of God and human masculinities, mostly with reference to Judeo-Christian traditions. It discusses the ways in which scholars of different academic perspectives have approached and are interrogating this relationship. Feminist scholars have radically critiqued the male God as privileging masculinity and reinforcing patriarchy. In masculinity studies this critique is generally acknowledged, but at the same time the problems that the male image of God might pose to men and masculinity are foregrounded, as are the various productive (though often ambivalent) effects of this dominant symbol when mobilized in masculinity politics, that is, deliberate efforts to change men and transform masculinity. In queer studies, the association of masculinity with the male body is questioned, opening new ways of thinking, such as about female masculinities. The instability of gender is also foregrounded, enabling more fluid and ambiguous gendered imaginations of the divine; at the same time sexuality is provocatively brought into the discussion, allowing queer masculinities and sexualities to be thought of as reflecting God.
Demonstrating the concrete implications of the maleness of God for human masculinities, this chapter further examines the work of African theologians who see a direct connection between the colonial and missionary introduction of the Christian (white) male God and a rigid gender binary that privileges men and masculinity and that proves to be detrimental in the face of the epidemics of HIV and gender-based violence. Reclaiming African indigenous imaginations of the divine, African women theologians propose more gender-inclusive images of God that contribute to gender justice and to transforming masculinities accordingly. The brief discussion of Pentecostalism demonstrates that at a grassroots level in African Christianity, patriarchal and heteronormative male images of God remain popular and are mobilized to bring about a transformation of masculinities within a patriarchal framework.
These more local instantiations of male images of God in Pentecostal and other religious circles offer a broader challenge for feminist and other critics of the male imaginary of God in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. As much as they develop and propose alternative imaginations of and language for the divine, the mainstream of believers within these religions seem to be generally indifferent to the critique and not receptive to progressive alternatives. This reveals the deep-rootedness of gendered religious symbols and the difficulty in changing enormously popular and powerful images such as of God as father. In spite of such difficulty, in a more subtle way the gendered imaginations of God might very well be subject to change. This has to do with the modern changes in perceptions of masculinity and fatherhood, which are likely to have an impact on the particular ways God is imagined as male or father. The relation between human masculinities and the maleness of God is one of mutually productive influence—and with masculinity being plural, complex, ambiguous, intersectional, unstable, and subject to change, so is the image of the male God.
Demonstrating the concrete implications of the maleness of God for human masculinities, this chapter further examines the work of African theologians who see a direct connection between the colonial and missionary introduction of the Christian (white) male God and a rigid gender binary that privileges men and masculinity and that proves to be detrimental in the face of the epidemics of HIV and gender-based violence. Reclaiming African indigenous imaginations of the divine, African women theologians propose more gender-inclusive images of God that contribute to gender justice and to transforming masculinities accordingly. The brief discussion of Pentecostalism demonstrates that at a grassroots level in African Christianity, patriarchal and heteronormative male images of God remain popular and are mobilized to bring about a transformation of masculinities within a patriarchal framework.
These more local instantiations of male images of God in Pentecostal and other religious circles offer a broader challenge for feminist and other critics of the male imaginary of God in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. As much as they develop and propose alternative imaginations of and language for the divine, the mainstream of believers within these religions seem to be generally indifferent to the critique and not receptive to progressive alternatives. This reveals the deep-rootedness of gendered religious symbols and the difficulty in changing enormously popular and powerful images such as of God as father. In spite of such difficulty, in a more subtle way the gendered imaginations of God might very well be subject to change. This has to do with the modern changes in perceptions of masculinity and fatherhood, which are likely to have an impact on the particular ways God is imagined as male or father. The relation between human masculinities and the maleness of God is one of mutually productive influence—and with masculinity being plural, complex, ambiguous, intersectional, unstable, and subject to change, so is the image of the male God.
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This chapter contributes to a postcolonial theological understanding of contemporary world Christianity, specifically in the context of the HIV epidemic. It focusses on the implications of the statement made by African theologians that... more
This chapter contributes to a postcolonial theological understanding of contemporary world Christianity, specifically in the context of the HIV epidemic. It focusses on the implications of the statement made by African theologians that nowadays the Body of Christ is HIV positive and is affected by AIDS. As a classic theological metaphor of ecclesiastical unity and identity, African theologians deploy the metaphor of the Body of Christ – in particular the Pauline notion of solidarity among the members of this Body – to remind Western Christianity that it is part of the global Body of Christ and shares in the suffering of this Body caused by HIV and AIDS. The chapter examines the implications of this metaphor in relation to the changing demographics of world Christianity and the related emergence of non-Western contextual theologies representing the concerns of people living at the socio-economic margins of our world. Taking up postcolonial theorist Homi Bhabha’s notion of the interstice, the chapter suggests that the Body of Christ with AIDS can be considered as an intervening space in contemporary world Christianity, as it gives rise to an interstitial intimacy that questions the binary divisions through which social experiences within world Christianity are often spatially opposed.
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Introduction to the book volume, Christianity and Controversies over Homosexuality in Contemporary Africa (London and New York: Routledge 2016).
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This chapter discusses Kenyan literary writer, Binyavanga Wainaina, as one prominent example of African agency, courage, creativity and authority in the struggle for sexual diversity and gay rights in contemporary Africa. More... more
This chapter discusses Kenyan literary writer, Binyavanga Wainaina, as one prominent example of African agency, courage, creativity and authority in the struggle for sexual diversity and gay rights in contemporary Africa. More specifically, the chapter focuses on Wainaina's critique of homophobia in Kenya and in Africa more widely, and of the religious (especially Pentecostal Christian) forces fueling it. It presents Wainaina as a queer prophet and as a critic of religion in Kenya’s public sphere.
PUBLISHED in Ezra Chitando and Adriaan van Klinken (eds.), Christianity and Controversies over Homosexuality in Contemporary Africa, London and New York: Routledge, 65-81.
PUBLISHED in Ezra Chitando and Adriaan van Klinken (eds.), Christianity and Controversies over Homosexuality in Contemporary Africa, London and New York: Routledge, 65-81.
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In Stephen Hunt (ed.), Handbook of Global Contemporary Christianity: Themes and Developments in Culture, Politics, and Society (Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion Series, Vol. 10), Leiden: Brill, 131-151.
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In Emma Tomalin (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Religions and Global Development, New York: Routledge, 127-137.
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Published in Emma Mason (ed.), Reading the Abrahamic Faiths: Rethinking Religion and Literature, London: Bloomsbury, pp. 131-142.
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As part of a survey project on religion, HIV and AIDS, this paper examines literature on the intersection of men, masculinities and HIV/AIDS from the perspective of religion and theology.
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The introduction to this special issue reviews the articles collected and presented in the volume. After an overview of the contents, the chapter turns to a more refined discussion of the insights resulting from the collection. These... more
The introduction to this special issue reviews the articles collected and presented in the volume. After an overview of the contents, the chapter turns to a more refined discussion of the insights resulting from the collection. These insights concern the productivity as well as limitations of canonicity, the importance of contextuality, the embodied practice of masculinity and the subsequent need to acknowledge intersectionality, and finally, it problematizes the rhetoric of ‘tradition(al)’ or ‘biblical’ masculinity. Mapping the future of the study of biblical reception and masculinities, the introduction identifies key issues and areas for further research. These are the necessity of a greater emphasis on multidisciplinarity, the need to demonstrating hermeneutical self-awareness, and a broadening of the scope of the field to include the Qur’an and Muslim cultures as well as newly emerging forms of Christianity in the global South. These features are key to the study of the recepti...
Introduction to special issue on postcoloniality, religion and gender. Religion and Gender 3/2 (2013), 159-167.
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This opening article offers an introduction to the theme of this special issue of Exchange: Jesus traditions and masculinities in world Christianity. Highlighting the historical trajectory of feminist theological debates on the maleness... more
This opening article offers an introduction to the theme of this special issue of Exchange: Jesus traditions and masculinities in world Christianity. Highlighting the historical trajectory of feminist theological debates on the maleness of Jesus Christ and its implications for configurations of gender (read: the position of women) in Christian traditions, the article particularly explores two recent developments: first, the critical discussion in academic, theological and ecumenical circles of men and masculinities in contemporary Christian contexts, and second, the growing body of scholarship on the masculinity (or better, masculinities) of Jesus Christ in the New Testament in relation to masculinities in the early Christian era. Building on these debates and this scholarship, the article identifies a new and critical field of inquiry that explores the complex and productive relationships between the ambiguous and unstable masculinity/ies of Jesus Christ and the multiple and changing masculinities that are found today in the local contexts of an increasingly diverse global Christianity.
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Kenyan, Christian, Queer is a short documentary film about the life of a community of LGBT Christians in Kenya. It explores how this community provides a space where LGBT Kenyans can be affirmed in their sexuality and faith, and how it... more
Kenyan, Christian, Queer is a short documentary film about the life of a community of LGBT Christians in Kenya. It explores how this community provides a space where LGBT Kenyans can be affirmed in their sexuality and faith, and how it seeks to promote an inclusive and progressive form of Christianity in a rather conservative society.
This educational guide is a resource for using the film in classroom settings, in African studies, religious studies, and queer studies courses.
This educational guide is a resource for using the film in classroom settings, in African studies, religious studies, and queer studies courses.
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This article explores the intersections of religion, embodiment, and queer sexuality in the autobiographical account of a South African self-identifying ‘lesbian sangoma’, on the basis of the book Black Bull, Ancestors and Me: My Life as... more
This article explores the intersections of religion, embodiment, and queer sexuality in the autobiographical account of a South African self-identifying ‘lesbian sangoma’, on the basis of the book Black Bull, Ancestors and Me: My Life as a Lesbian Sangoma, by Nkunzi Zandile Nkabinde. The article offers an intertextual reading of this primary text, first vis-à-vis David Chidester’s Wild Religion: Tracking the Sacred in South Africa, and second, vis-à-vis some black lesbian feminist writings, specifically by Audre Lorde, M. Jacqui Alexander, and Gloria Wekker. This intertextual reading foregrounds the embodied and in fact queer nature of the wild forces of indigenous religion in contemporary South Africa, and it illuminates how embodied and erotic experience is grounded in the domain of the sacred. Hence, the article concludes by arguing for a decolonising and post-secular move in the field of African queer studies, underlining the need to take the sacred seriously as a site of queer ...