Economic change and religious polarization in an African rural district

bibliographic database
Line

Book chapter

Title:	Economic change and religious polarization in an African rural district
Author:	Schoffeleers, J. Matthew
Book title:	Malawi: an alternative pattern of development
Year:	1985
Pages:	187-242
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Malawi
Subjects:	Christianity African religions economic development
Abstract:	In Nsanje district in the Shire valley, duing the 1970s, relations between Christianity and traditional religion polarized, even to the point of occasional physical violence. The immediate cause was the introduction of two sharply antagonistic religious movements: on the one hand, a number of pentecostalist bodies that had come from outside Malawi; and on the other, a neo-traditionalist movement, called the Church of the Black Ancestors, that had originated within the country. It is argued that these outbreaks of violent conflict are to be regarded as the most recent in a long series of attempts to redefine and re-arrange social and economic relationships. National development policies have directly influenced this process, materially and ideologically. - Chart, map, notes.