Christianity, sexuality and citizenship in Africa: critical intersections

ABSTRACT

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.

KEYWORDS:

• Africa
• Christianity
• Pentecostalism
• sexuality
• citizenship

Acknowledgments

The articles included in this special issue were first presented and discussed during a research workshop on 10–11 November 2016, which was held at and funded by the University of Leeds. In addition to the contributors to this special issue, other participants in the workshop were Kwame Ahaligah, Melissa Hackman, Benjamin Kirby and Jo Sadgrove, and we gratefully acknowledge their meaningful contribution to the conversations during the workshop. We are also grateful to the editors of Citizenship Studies for the opportunity to publish the collected papers as a special issue.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The articles included in this special issue were first presented and discussed during a research workshop on 10–11 November 2016, which was held at and funded by the University of Leeds.