Studying African Religions in the 21st Century (Re)setting the Agenda
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Abstract
This Introduction offers a brief history of the journal of the African Association for the Study of Religions, and reflects on the journal's relaunch under a new name, Utambuzi, and on a new open access online platform hosted by UJ Press. It also introduces the theme of this special relaunch issue, decicated to '(Re)setting the agenda' of the study of African religions in the 21st century.
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References
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Ntarangwi, Mwenda. 2016. The Street Is My Pulpit: Hip Hop and Christianity in Kenya. University of Illinois Press.
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Olupona, Jacob. 2011. City of 201 Gods: Ilé-Ifè in Time, Space, and the Imagination. University of California Press.
Østebø, Terje, eds. 2022. Routledge Handbook of Islam in Africa. Routledge.
P’Bitek, Okot. 2011. Decolonizing African Religions: A Short History of African Religions in Western Scholarship. Diasporic African Press.
Parsitau, Damaris S., and Ruth A. Aura. 2021. “The Role of Religion and Faith Actors in Violence Against Women and Girls in Africa: Challenges, Tensions, and Promise.” In The Palgrave Handbook of African Women’s Studies, edited by Olajumoke Yacob-Haliso and Toyin Falola, 2209-2232. Palgrave Macmillan.
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Shi, Xuefei, and Hangwei Li. 2022. “Chinese Buddhism in Africa: The Entanglement of Religion, Politics and Diaspora.” Contemporary Buddhism 23, no. 1-2: 108–130.
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Williams, Corey L. 2019. “Chrislam, Accommodation and the Politics of Religious Bricolage in Nigeria.” Studies in World Christianity 25 (1): 5–28.
Adogame, Afe. 2015. “Editor’s Note.” Journal for the Study of the Religions of Africa and its Diaspora 1 (1): 1–4.
Adogame, Afe. 2022. Indigeneity in African Religions: Ọza Worldviews, Cosmologies and Religious Cultures. Bloomsbury.
Anderson, Allan H. 2018. Spirit-Filled World: Religious Dis/Continuity in African Pentecostalism. Palgrave Macmillan.
Atiemo, Abamfo Ofori. 2013. Religion and the Inculturation of Human Rights in Ghana. Bloomsbury.
Chidester, David. 2012. Wild Religion: Tracking the Sacred in South Africa. University of California Press.
Chitando, Ezra, Masiiwa Ragies Gunda, and Lovemore Togarasei, eds. 2020. Religion and Development in Africa. Bamberg University Press.
Dube, Musa W., Telesia K. Musili, and Sylvia Owusu-Ansah, eds. 2024. Gender and African Indigenous Religions. Routledge.
Hackett, Rosalind I.J., and Benjamin F. Soares, eds. 2015. New Media and Religious Transformations in Africa. Indiana University Press.
Ibrahim, Murtala. 2023. Sensational Piety: Practices of Mediation in Islamic and Pentecostal Movements in Abuja, Nigeria. Bloomsbury.
Janson, Marloes. 2021. Crossing Religious Boundaries: Islam, Christianity and ‘Yoruba Religion’ in Lagos, Nigeria. Cambridge University Press.
McClendon, Gwyneth H., and Rachel Beatty Riedl. 2019. From Pews to Politics: Religious Sermons and Political Participation in Africa. Cambridge University Press.
Meyer, Birgit. 2021. “What is Religion in Africa? Relational Dynamics in an Entangled World.” Journal of Religion in Africa 50 (1-2): 156–181.
Moshi, Lioba. 2006. “The Globalized World Languages: The Case of Kiswahili.” In Selected Proceedings of the 36th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, edited by Olaoba F. Arasanyin and Michael A. Pemberton, 166–175. Cascadilla Proceedings Project. https://www.lingref.com/cpp/acal/36/paper1421.pdf
Mutema, Gaudencia. 2010. “Religion and African Migration: A Survey.” Religion Compass 4 (5), 271–286.
Ndlovu-Gatsheni, Sabelo. 2018. Epistemic Freedom in Africa: Deprovincialization and Decolonization. Routledge.
Ngũgĩ Wa Thiong’o. 1986. Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature. East African Educational Publishers.
Ntarangwi, Mwenda. 2016. The Street Is My Pulpit: Hip Hop and Christianity in Kenya. University of Illinois Press.
Oládémọ, Oyèrónké. 2022. Women in Yoruba Religions. New York University Press.
Olupona, Jacob. 2011. City of 201 Gods: Ilé-Ifè in Time, Space, and the Imagination. University of California Press.
Østebø, Terje, eds. 2022. Routledge Handbook of Islam in Africa. Routledge.
P’Bitek, Okot. 2011. Decolonizing African Religions: A Short History of African Religions in Western Scholarship. Diasporic African Press.
Parsitau, Damaris S., and Ruth A. Aura. 2021. “The Role of Religion and Faith Actors in Violence Against Women and Girls in Africa: Challenges, Tensions, and Promise.” In The Palgrave Handbook of African Women’s Studies, edited by Olajumoke Yacob-Haliso and Toyin Falola, 2209-2232. Palgrave Macmillan.
Premawardhana, Devaka. 2019. “Introduction: Orienting Africana Religious Studies—East African and Indian Ocean Perspectives.” Journal of Africana Religions 7 (1): 1–16.
Shi, Xuefei, and Hangwei Li. 2022. “Chinese Buddhism in Africa: The Entanglement of Religion, Politics and Diaspora.” Contemporary Buddhism 23, no. 1-2: 108–130.
Van Klinken, Adriaan, and Ezra Chitando. 2021. Reimagining Christianity and Sexual Diversity in Africa. Hurst & Co.
Williams, Corey L. 2019. “Chrislam, Accommodation and the Politics of Religious Bricolage in Nigeria.” Studies in World Christianity 25 (1): 5–28.
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Published
Apr 28, 2025
Article Details
How to Cite
Studying African Religions in the 21st Century: (Re)setting the Agenda. (2025). Utambuzi: Journal for the Study of the Religions of Africa and Its Diaspora, 8(1), 3-8. https://doi.org/10.36615/p1s7jj04
Section
Introduction
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Author Biographies
Abel Ugba, University of Leeds
Abel Ugba is Associate Professor in the School of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leeds. His expertise and interests are in sociology of religion; media and religion; media and migration; media and global development; journalism and new media.
Adriaan van Klinken, University of Leeds
Adriaan van Klinken is Professor of Religion and African Studies at the University of Leeds.
How to Cite
Studying African Religions in the 21st Century: (Re)setting the Agenda. (2025). Utambuzi: Journal for the Study of the Religions of Africa and Its Diaspora, 8(1), 3-8. https://doi.org/10.36615/p1s7jj04
