The Rationality of Spirits and Demons Extending the Study of Pentecostalism and Politics in Africa
Main Article Content
Keywords
Pentecostalism , politics, demons, warfare, logics
Abstract
Late modernity (neo-)liberal states—into which we also inscribe most contemporary African countries—are democracies or semi-authoritarian regimes, not theocracies. Demons and spiritual warfare are not terms that readily belong to this contemporary political lexicon, other than in specific contexts or studies. The study of Pentecostalism in Africa offers an advantageous starting point to the study of demons and spiritual warfare, as there is no need to first reconcile demons and spirits with modernity. The modern/unmodern tension in this field began to be addressed at the beginning of the 21st century, while other areas of enquiry (for example, Pentecostalism and Politics in the United States) remain tied up with questions concerning modernization. However, while spirits and warfare are fully recognized as part of the African political imagination, they are still to be fully integrated into political lexicon and understood in their operational logic, especially with regards to their work in national political spaces. With the rise of Pentecostal politics in the African state, there is still a need to elaborate the necessary lexicon and tools to explain in political terms how demons motivate and shape public action and how they operate within the national political space.
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References
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Afolayan, Adeshina, Olajumoke Yacob-Haliso, and Toyin Falola, eds. 2018. Pentecostalism and Politics in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74911-2.
Bompani, Barbara. 2019. “Old and New Alliances: Christian churches and the African National Congress in South Africa” In The Routledge Handbook to Religion and Political Parties, edited by Jeffrey Haynes, Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351012478-22.
———. 2022. “‘The Memory of Persecution Is in Our Blood’: Documenting Loyalties, Identities and Motivations to Political Action in the Ugandan Pentecostal Movement.” The Journal of Modern African Studies 60 (4): 479–501. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022278X2200009X.
———. 2023. “‘God-Fearing Nations’ – Understanding the Rise of Homophobia and Homophobic Legislations in East Africa and Beyond.” Review of African Political Economy (blog). October 26, 2023. https://roape.net/2023/10/26/god-fearing-nations-understanding-the-rise-of-homophobia-and-homophobic-legislations-in-east-africa-and-beyond/.
Business Day. 2024. “Jacob Zuma says he will change the constitution if elected.” Last modified February 12. https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2024-02-12-jacob-zuma-says-he-will-change-the-constitution-if-elected/.
Comaroff, Jean. 2024. “Religion and Intimacy: Redemption in Post-Liberationist Times.” Philosophy and Global Affairs 4 (1): 59–77.
Ellis, Stephen, and Gerrie ter Haar. 2004. Worlds of Power: Religious Thought and Political Practice in Africa. Hurst Series in Contemporary History and World Affairs 1. Hurst.
Frahm-Arp, Maria. 2015. “The Political Rhetoric in Sermons and Select Social Media in Three Pentecostal Charismatic Evangelical Churches leading up to the 2014 South African Election.” Journal for the Study of Religion 28 (1): 115–41.
Gifford, Paul. 1998. African Christianity: Its Public Role. Indiana University Press.
———. 2015. Christianity, Development and Modernity in Africa. Hurst Publishers.
Hackett, Rosalind I.J. 2003. “Discourses of Demonization in Africa and Beyond.” Diogenes 50 (3): 61–75. https://doi.org/10.1177/03921921030503005.
Haynes, Jeffrey. 2023. “Christian Nationalism and Politics in Ghana.” Religions 14 (9): 1202. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14091202.
Haustein, Jörg. 2011. “Embodying the Spirit(s): Pentecostal Demonology and Deliverance Discourse in Ethiopia.” Ethnos 76 (4): 534–52. https://doi.org/10.1080/00141844.2011.598235.
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———. 2016. “Zuma repeats that ANC will rule until Jesus comes.” Last modified July 5. https://mg.co.za/article/2016-07-05-zuma-repeats-that-anc-will-rule-until-jesus-comes.
Marshall, Ruth. 2009. Political Spiritualities: The Pentecostal Revolution in Nigeria. Chicago University Press.
Meyer, Birgit. 1999. Translating the Devil: Religion and Modernity Among the Ewe in Ghana. Edinburgh University Press.
O’Donnell, S. Jonathon. 2021. Passing Orders: Demonology and Sovereignty in American Spiritual Warfare. Fordham University Press.
———. 2023. “Modern demonology: the discernment of spirits in the theatre of colonial modernity”. Journal of Contemporary Religion 38 (3): 469–89. https://doi.org/10.1080/13537903.2023.2262803.
Peterson, Derek R. 2012. Ethnic Patriotism and the East African Revival. Cambridge University Press.
Richman, Naomi. 2020. “Machine gun prayer: the politics of embodied desire in Pentecostal worship.” Journal of Contemporary Religion 35 (3): 469–83. https://doi.org/10.1080/13537903.2020.1828506.
SABC News. 2018. “Religious leaders throw their weight behind Jacob Zuma.” Posted June 4, 2018, by sabcnews.com. YouTube, 00:00:41. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-hv6EqoUsM.
Sadgrove, Joanna, Robert M. Vanderbeck, Johan Andersson, Gill Valentine, and Kevin Ward. 2012. “Morality Plays and Money Matters: Towards a Situated Understanding of the Politics of Homosexuality in Uganda.” The Journal of Modern African Studies 50 (1): 103–29. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022278X11000620.
Stout, Jeffrey. 2004. Democracy and Tradition. Princeton University Press.
Summers, Carol. 2005. “Grandfathers, Grandsons, Morality, and Radical Politics in Late Colonial Buganda.” International Journal of African Historical Studies 38 (3): 427–47.
Wyk, Ilana van. 2019. “Jacob Zuma’s Shamelessness: Conspicuous Consumption, Politics and Religion.” In Conspicuous Consumption in Africa, edited by Posel, Deborah, and Ilana van Wik. Wits University Press.
Wariboko, Nimi. 2017. “Pentecostalism in Africa.” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History, by Nimi
Wariboko. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.120.
———. 2018. “African Pentecostal Political Philosophy: New Directions in the Study of Pentecostalism and Politics”. In Pentecostalism and Politics in Africa, edited by Afolayan, Adeshina, Olajumoke Yacob-Haliso, and Toyin Falola. Palgrave MacMillan.
Weber, Max. 1930. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Translated by Talcott Parsons. Allen and Unwin.
West, Gerald. 2010. “Jesus, Jacob Zuma, and the New Jerusalem: Religion in the Public Realm between Polokwane and the Presidency”. Journal for the Study of Religion, 23 (1/2): 43–70.
Willis, Justin 2021. “Uganda’s Past, Ugandan Futures: Debates over Government, Equality and Justice.” Hypothoses (blog). April 6, 2021. https://uganda1979.hypotheses.org/113.
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Published
Apr 28, 2025
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The Rationality of Spirits and Demons: Extending the Study of Pentecostalism and Politics in Africa. (2025). Utambuzi: Journal for the Study of the Religions of Africa and Its Diaspora, 8(1), 60-68. https://doi.org/10.36615/zjmd8v25
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How to Cite
The Rationality of Spirits and Demons: Extending the Study of Pentecostalism and Politics in Africa. (2025). Utambuzi: Journal for the Study of the Religions of Africa and Its Diaspora, 8(1), 60-68. https://doi.org/10.36615/zjmd8v25