Christian Creations of New Spaces of Sexuality, Reproduction, and Relationships in Africa: Exploring Faith and Religious Heterotopia

Bochow, Astrid; Dijk, Rijk van

doi:10.1163/15700666-12341235

Cited by 39 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…As Bochow and Van Dijk (2012) have indicated, the creation of alternative social spaces -a process they describe in a Foucauldian sense as being heterotopic -relates on a wider level to providing teaching on relationships, informing the ways in which influential Pentecostal groups perceive of their significance in producing behavioural change. As Bochow and Van Dijk (2012) have indicated, the creation of alternative social spaces -a process they describe in a Foucauldian sense as being heterotopic -relates on a wider level to providing teaching on relationships, informing the ways in which influential Pentecostal groups perceive of their significance in producing behavioural change.…”

Section: The Pentecostalization Of An Educated Publicmentioning

confidence: 99%

After Pentecostalism? Exploring Intellectualism, Secularization and Guiding Sentiments in Africa

Dijk¹

2015

Multiple Secularities Beyond the West

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processes of secularization in Sub-Saharan Africa is either completely lacking in the literature or in a state of infancy. While there is little empirical evidence to substantiate the claim that 'Africans are notoriously religious' (Mbiti 1969), this lack of attention to processes of secularization in Africa may also be the result of an essentialized differentiation between 'us and the other' whereby such processes are predominantly perceived as belonging to a kind of 'European exceptionalism' that cannot be imported into other cultural domains. This contribution questions how religion can be co-productive and co-constitutive of the manner in which, in Casanova's (2011) terms, separate social spheres arise and where religion starts to play less of a role in informing identities. This will be approached from a perspective informed by ideas of sentiment and emotion. I propose that, by building on Wohlrab-Sahr and Burchardt's (2012) notion of studying secularization processes through the guiding ideas that inspire people and groups to engage with this 'work' of separation, we also need to consider the rise of guiding sentiments, that is, emotions that inspire people to view religion differently. This ties the understanding of the experience of secularization to the sensual and the sensitive, and allows for the importation and transportability of Charles Taylor's emotional understanding of the process into Africa. In her brilliant review of Taylor's A Secular Age, Hurd (2007 highlights the difficulty Taylor has in acknowledging that some people in the current age neither endorse religion in any of its manifestations nor eschew any form of metaphysics or humanism. Instead, she points out that Taylor consigns these groups, who seem to adhere to a level of radical or fundamental immanence, to living in a universe cloaked in darkness. She points to his Unbehagen¹ about this development by showing how he sees that 'a race of humans has arisen which has managed to experience this world entirely as imma- I am using the German term Unbehagen so as to indicate a register of sentiments of unease, anxiety and discomfort that, in their combination, are otherwise difficult to translate in English. Brought to you by | Cambridge University Library Authenticated Download Date | 8/8/15 3:23 PM Rijk van Dijk Brought to you by | Cambridge University Library Authenticated Download Date | 8/8/15 3:23 PM

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Section: The Pentecostalization Of An Educated Publicmentioning

confidence: 99%

After Pentecostalism? Exploring Intellectualism, Secularization and Guiding Sentiments in Africa

Dijk¹

2015

Multiple Secularities Beyond the West

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“…Many authors have been exploring how the popularity of Pentecostalism in many areas of Africa is related to how the faith in its ideology and practices seems to offer answers to questions middle-class members have in the new context of sexuality, HIV/AIDS and reproduction (Mate 2002;Dilger 2007;Burchardt 2009;Bochow and van Dijk 2012). This contribution will argue that by studying the Pentecostal context of counselling practices in Botswana, we can see how a combination of the faith's dogmas and pseudo-psychology is constructing ideas of sexual pleasure as an emotional as well as a physical technique that can be (intellectually) communicated in church circles.…”

Section: R Van Dijkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Counselling and Pentecostal modalities of social engineering of relationships in Botswana

Dijk

2013

Culture, Health & Sexuality

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In African societies where HIV and AIDS are widespread, counselling is being used in an attempt to control people's sexual relationships and has become an important industry. Counselling is centrally placed in many AIDS-related policies in Botswana and is sponsored by both the government and religious organisations. Within the broad spectrum of Christianity, Pentecostal churches are very active. They emphasise the refashioning of relationships by mediating moral imperatives and by engaging with psychological knowledge on personal behaviour and on techniques of counselling in a changing context of sexuality. This paper explores the significance of religious counselling in terms of the disciplining effects concerning personal behaviour and the ways in which this form of communication is generating a wider interest in this society. This is particularly attractive to members of the educated classes who are engaging with Pentecostal counselling as a way of refashioning their domain of intimate relations. Yet, it does not only provide informed ideas on intimate relations--being often one of the proclaimed objectives of counselling - it also produces a communication about intimate matters that is intended to inform a critique of socio-cultural conventions. This is a counter-cultural dynamic of counselling, which has been little noticed in the academic study of counselling practices in Africa.

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“…Indeed, it has been argued that in their efforts to transform society according to a Pentecostal ethos, Pentecostal churches have contributed to shaping ideas of personhood, gender relations and emotions that are compatible with a neoliberal ethic and aspirations [8,[13][14][15][16] which resonate with the modern ideals of intimacy [1]. One of the key issues is how, in the context of global concerns with the treatment and prevention of HIV, Pentecostal Christians have played an active role in teaching their congregations how to manage their marital and sexual lives.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One of the key issues is how, in the context of global concerns with the treatment and prevention of HIV, Pentecostal Christians have played an active role in teaching their congregations how to manage their marital and sexual lives. In doing so, they have relied on the introduction of methods such as counseling and the publication and distribution of educational literature on these topics [10,16]. These methods have informed the way in which "born-again" converts learn to express affection in public [17,18], assimilate ideas of romantic love [19] and train their emotions [20] to achieve an ideal of companionate marriage.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Dilemmas of Monogamy: Pleasure, Discipline and the Pentecostal Moral Self in the Republic of Benin

Quiroz

2016

Religions

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Based on ethnographic research in the Republic of Benin, this article explores how Pentecostal teachings on marriage and the management of sexual pleasure contribute to shaping converts' moral selves. For Pentecostals, fidelity towards God, when single and fidelity between partners, once married, is presented as the ideal model of partnership to which every "Born-Again" should aspire. In the context where polygamous unions are socially accepted, Pentecostal pastors teach that a satisfactory sexual life restricted to marriage is the means of building successful monogamous unions. However, sexual satisfaction might not always guarantee marital success, especially when people face problems of infertility. The author suggests that the disciplinary regimes that these teachings promote contribute to shaping new modes of intimacy, which are compatible with societal changes but often contradict the extant social norms and ideals of reproduction. Moral dilemmas arising from this tension are the key to understanding how Pentecostal Christianity shapes the moral self. The article addresses how Pentecostals in Benin navigate and negotiate cultural continuities and discontinuities in relation to church authority and family life.

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Christian Creations of New Spaces of Sexuality, Reproduction, and Relationships in Africa: Exploring Faith and Religious Heterotopia

Cited by 39 publications

References 30 publications

After Pentecostalism? Exploring Intellectualism, Secularization and Guiding Sentiments in Africa

After Pentecostalism? Exploring Intellectualism, Secularization and Guiding Sentiments in Africa

Counselling and Pentecostal modalities of social engineering of relationships in Botswana

The Dilemmas of Monogamy: Pleasure, Discipline and the Pentecostal Moral Self in the Republic of Benin

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