New Christianities explored in Afrique Contemporaine

Edited by the Agence Française de Développement (French Development Agency), the quarterly journal Afrique Contemporaine makes available the analyses and opinions of researchers and specialists on the evolution of the African continent with a view towards sustainable development.

 

It has been an honour for me to lead a special issue, with my colleague Dr Cedric Mayrargue, about NEW CHRISTIANITIES in Africa (mostly Evangelicals).

 

This edition (n°252) has been released in July 2015, whith a rich content (related to Congo, South Sudan, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia etc.).

Link.

Legacy of a bold and talented French photojournalist

"The French government has confirmed the death of Camille Lepage, a 26-year -old photojournalist working in the Central African Republic. The country is wracked with political instability,  resulting in widespread violence, internal displacement and sectarian tension. Her body was found by French peacekeeping troops on May 13, 2014." (click here to read more)

Camille Lepage was not only a very talented and bold young photojournalist (published by Time Magazine, The New York Times etc). She was also powerfully advocating for left-behind countries and people, especially South Sudan where she found home in JUBA for 2 years.  

To discover her brilliant work, click here : http://camille-lepage.photoshelter.com/

Faith in Empire: Religion.. & Colonial Rule in French Senegal

"Faith in Empire is an innovative exploration of French colonial rule in West Africa, conducted through the prism of religion and religious policy. Elizabeth Foster examines the relationships among French Catholic missionaries, colonial administrators, and Muslim, animist, and Christian Africans in colonial Senegal between 1880 and 1940. In doing so she illuminates the nature of the relationship between the French Third Republic and its colonies, reveals competing French visions of how to approach Africans..."

This Stanford University Press book published in 2013 has recently been reviewed in the French Studies quarterly (Oxford, link).

South Sudan : leaving hatred behind ?

As heavy fighting plagues South Sudan since mid-december 2013, let's share a wish (see below): 

May this motto replace hatred (picture taken in Juba, 2d december, 2013)

Juba (South Sudan): studying its changing Christian landscape

Independent since 2011, South Sudan is a rapidly changing country, with huge challenges ahead. As a scholar working on religion from a social science perspective, I am currently studying the changing landscape of Christianity in Juba, the capital.

After a belated landing in Juba on the 23d of November, I will leave on the 2d of December, 2013. Meanwhile, as I do my best to document my study, several pictures are posted on a Flickr Album you can enjoy here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pilgrimseb/sets/72157637950717174/

Multiple Modernities and Postsecular Societies

The French like big concepts, with a capital letter, and ONE definition, once for all. Modernity, Liberty, Equality, Republic... Inherited from an Imperial past, a Republican model filled with messianism and a Catholic culture (centralized and absolute), this mindset  is still around, but it is less and less prevailing.

Excellent news! Which does not mean we favor a relativist approach, far from that. But a healthy and ballanced thinkink requires that concepts and frameworks should always be put into perspective and into context. One of the scholars who has helped to reach a more nuanced and dewesternized view on Modernity is Schmuel Eisenstadt, who edited in 2002 a very important book on multiple modernities. 

Good news: this globalized and dewesternized view on current world changes is reassessed in a new collective research just released by Ashgate. Its title: Multiple modernities and postsecular societies. (click here to continue)

A new leading figure of the European research field on African churches

Remember Annalisa Butticci’s name : as the Padova International Conference on Pentecostalism reaches its end today, she’s the one to be praised (along with her mentor Enzo Pace) for boosting studies on Pentecostal and immigrant churches in Latin Europe.

 After having completed her Ph.D in Sociology and Methodology for Social Science Research from the Catholic University of Milan (Italy), she conducted an ambitious field work, both in Nigerian immigrant churches and in Nigeria (she spent 8 months in Lagos), and she just achieved an amazing task in organizing such a large and successful conference in Padova. (Click to continue)

Kingdom Theology : a shift within Health and Wealth Gospel?

As a keynote speaker at the 2012 Padova international conference on Pentecostalism (Italy), I was glad to present my paper today (Friday 8th of June, 2012).

I was not the only one : several fascinating studies have been presented, including one describing a theological schift occuring within the Health and Wealth Gospel trend in Nigerian Pentecostalism.

 Click to continue