Gideon Baguma Byamugisha

Ezra Chitando

John Joshva Raja

Cover and spine titles have the red ribbon symbol in place of HIV.

New Ecclesiological Christologies in the Context of HIV Positive Communities

Is the Body of Christ HIV Positive?

Sophia Chirongoma

The editors of this volume highlight the fact that although the Church often stands up for other public issues such as human rights, democratic political rights, economic justice, etc., sexual and gender-based violence do not receive the attention they deserve. There are no theological or cultural arguments that can justify such a position. Sexual and gender-based violence are a scourge that defies our Christian understanding of human dignity ? and challenges the Church in all its formations to respond. ÿAlthough most of the case studies are from Zimbabwe, they challenge us regardless of which country we are living in ? or the tradition of our specific denomination.ÿ In the context of Southern Africa, where the HIV and AIDS burden is among the highest in the world, sexual and gender-based violence are a major contributor to the spread of the disease. This will only change if the Church challenges this practice as part of its educational and public work ? in theological institutions, in congregations, but also in its pastoral work within families.ÿ

Churches facing sexual and gender-based violence

Justice Not Silence

Molly Manyonganise

Zimbabwe has invested in women’s emancipation and leadership while articulating a strong Pan-Africanist ideology, providing a valuable entry point into understanding the dynamics relating to women’s leadership in Africa. It is also characterised by radical religious pluralism, thereby facilitating an appreciation of the impact of religion on women’s leadership in Africa more generally. This volume reflects on the role of Zimbabwean women in religio-cultural leadership, with a specific focus on roles within religious organizations. It begins by examining Zimbabwean church women’s leadership roles in long established faith communities. The chapters then hone in on the emergence of churches or ministries founded by women in Zimbabwe, starting from the pre-colonial era and advancing through the last forty years of independence. Hence, the book offers a comprehensive assessment of the challenges and opportunities women in leadership face in religious institutions in the country, before exploring the impact of the pandemic on the ability of women to lead. It will make a major contribution to the advancement of scholarship of gender and leadership in emerging markets.

Engagement and Activism in Religious Institutions

Women, Religion and Leadership in Zimbabwe, Volume 2

Lovemore Togarasei

Masiiwa Ragies Gunda 

Religion and Development in Africa

Pauline Mateveke

Munyaradzi Nyakudya

Bridget Chinouriri

This book is a critical reflection on the life and career of the late legendary Zimbabwean music icon, Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi, and his contribution towards the reconstruction of Zimbabwe, Africa and the globe at large. Mtukudzi was a musician, philosopher, and human rights activist who espoused the agenda of reconstruction in order to bring about a better world, proposing personal, cultural, political, religious and global reconstruction. With twenty original chapters, this vibrant volume examines various themes and dimensions of Mtukudzi’s distinguished life and career, notably, how his music has been a powerful vehicle for societal reconstruction and cultural rejuvenation, specifically speaking to issues of culture, human rights, governance, peacebuilding, religion and identity, humanism, gender and politics, among others. The contributors explore the art of performance in Mtukudzi’s music and acting career, and how this facilitated his reconstruction agenda, offering fresh and compelling perspectives into the role of performing artists and cultural workers such as Mtukudzi in presenting models for reconstructing the world.

Reconstruction and Identity

The Life and Music of Oliver Mtukudzi

This book approaches perceptions of Robert Gabriel Mugabe within Zimbabwe and beyond during his period in power and towards the end of his time in government. The book examines how Mugabe became the focus of a thriving personality cult, studying the argument that Mugabe could be regarded as the founder of a new religious movement in Zimbabwe and the Global South. The contributors analyse the use of ideology and mythology in promoting Mugabe’s hegemony in Zimbabwe, looking at the appropriation of religious ideas by the Mugabe government and the impact this had on perceptions of Mugabe both within Zimbabwe and beyond. Focusing on the final years of Mugabe’s rule, the chapters provide new insights into how different actors, including politicians, African Traditional Religions, African Independent/Initiated Churches, Pentecostal churches, the media and others deployed religious idioms to support or critique Mugabe at a time when his tenure was coming under serious threat. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Southern African politics and religion.

Personality Cult and Politics in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe

Fainos Mangena

Itai Muwati

Music narrates personal, communal and national experiences. It is a rich repository of a peoples deepest fears, hopes, and achievements, especially as it communicates spirituality, economic, and political realities. This volume examines the multiple roles of music in Zimbabwe, showing how Zimbabwean music has addressed the socio-economic, political and spiritual crisis that the country has endured in the last one and a half decades. While concentrating on the tumultuous 20002013 period, the themes that are addressed here are enduring. Thus, the book explores the interplay between music and gender, music and politics, and music and identity construction in Zimbabwe, and it interacts with most of the dominant genres in Zimbabwean music, including Sungura, ZORA, Chimurenga, Gospel and the Urban Grooves. This volume will interest specialists in the study of ethnomusicology, in addition to scholars of literature, religious studies, philosophy, theatre arts, political science, and history.

Music, Identity and Politics in Zimbabwe

Sounds of Life

Music narrates personal, communal and national experiences. It is a rich repository of a people’s deepest fears, hopes, and achievements, especially as it communicates spirituality, economic, and political realities. This volume examines the multiple roles of music in Zimbabwe, showing how Zimbabwean music has addressed the socio-economic, political and spiritual crisis that the country has endured in the last one and a half decades. While concentrating on the tumultuous 2000–2013 period, the themes that are addressed here are enduring. Thus, the book explores the interplay between music and gender, music and politics, and music and identity construction in Zimbabwe, and it interacts with most of the dominant genres in Zimbabwean music, including Sungura, ZORA, Chimurenga, Gospel and the Urban Grooves. This volume will interest specialists in the study of ethnomusicology, in addition to scholars of literature, religious studies, philosophy, theatre arts, political science, and history.

Adriaan van Klinken

Issues of homosexuality are the subject of public and political controversy in many African societies today. Frequently, these controversies receive widespread attention both locally and globally, such as with the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda. In the international media, these cases tend to be presented as revealing a deeply-rooted homophobia in Africa fuelled by religious and cultural traditions. But so far little energy is expended in understanding these controversies in all their complexity and the critical role religion plays in them. Complementing the companion volume, Public Religion and the Politics of Homosexuality in Africa, this book investigates Christian politics and discourses on homosexuality in sub-Saharan Africa. The contributors present case studies from various African countries, from Nigeria to South Africa and from Cameroon to Uganda, focusing on Pentecostal, Catholic and mainline Protestant churches. They critically examine popular Christian theologies that perpetuate homophobia and discrimination, but they also discuss contestations of such discourses and emerging alternative Christian perspectives that contribute to the recognition of sexual diversity, social justice and human rights in contemporary Africa.

Ezra Chitando

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