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AEGIS European Conference on African Studies
11 - 14 July 2007
African Studies Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Uncertainty and order in peri-urban neighbourhoods in Mozambique: The role of local African Independent Churches
| Panel |
60. The challenge of uncertainty and order in African polities
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| Paper ID | 429 |
| Author(s) |
Seibert, Gerhard
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| Paper |
No paper submitted
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| Abstract | The rapid growth and proliferation of African Independent Churches has been one of the most remarkable social-cultural phenomena in post-war Mozambique. These generally small local churches - predominantly Zion and Pentecostal-type churches - are not merely religious institutions. By exercising social and communal functions the religious communities mitigate uncertainty and establish order in the impoverished, populous and multiethnic peri-urban neighbourhoods, where municipal services and state institutions are largely absent and the rural extended family rarely exists. A crucial activity of these churches is divine healing that provides authority and legitimacy and constitutes the principal recruitment mechanism for new members. Divine healing practices compete with traditional healers and are complimentary to public health services. The moral standards and the rules of conduct demanded by the churches help to establish cohesion and order within the community and simultaneously exclude all those who do not accept them. The religious, cultural, and social activities of the churches help the individual to structure everyday life and provide a sense of security in an environment marked by mass poverty, misery, unemployment, and insecurity. The state tries to regulate the activities of the innumerable churches, but at the same time recognizes their role in society and frequently cooperates with them. |
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