A Politics of Presence

Christian missions in Africa are commonly viewed as a blatant example of ethnocentrism. This stereotype partly exists because the day-to-day interaction between missionaries and Africans has so rarely been studied. This book shows how Africans and missionaries co-produced a Catholic Church in the Uluguru mountains of Eastern Tanzania in the late colonial period, thereby adapting each others' routines in the fields of initiation, education, magic, and religion. It explores how the presence of the mission resulted in a rift between spiritual and worldly magic, and in the underdevelopment of the capacity of Waluguru to manage their own practices of revelation.

Autorentext

Peter Pels

Inhalt

The Microphysics of Colonial Contact. The Mission As Movement, or: Creating and Crossing the Boundaries of Home and Mission. Kizungu Rhythms : Luguru Christianity as Ngoma . Luguru Woman or Lawful Wife: Mwali , Marriage and the Mission o Mkubwa to Mwalimu : Mission School and the Commodification of Knowledge. White Magic: The Missionary in the Field of Uganga and Uchawi . Conclusion: The Underdevelopment of Revelation