Ritual Servitudes and Christian Social Practices in Ghana

The Hidden Spaces of Otherness in Religion
1. Auflage 2022
ISBN: 978-1-032-20349-2
Verlag: Taylor & Francis

Buch, Englisch, 218 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 463 g

Reihe: Religion, Resistance, Hospitalities

This book explores the kinds of Christian service or diaconia that develop in non-institutionalized practices for supporting survivors of indigenous ritual servitude or Trokosi in Africa. Drawing on empirical research from Ghana, it examines the possibilities of freedom, equality, and dignity for liberated Trokosi and the manner in which these women’s experiences constitute a repudiation of dominant patriarchal family systems. With close attention to the work of indigenous parachurches – which function outside of institutionalized churches – in challenging the contemporary practice of ritual slavery and offering its survivors a lived space in which they need not remain “hidden” as they seek restoration and integration into wider society, Ritual Servitudes and Christian Social Practices in Ghana will appeal to scholars of sociology, theology, and religion with interests in gender, contemporary ministries and African religion.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Stiles-Ocran, David

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Volkskunde Indigene Völker
• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Volkskunde Historische & Regionale Volkskunde
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Sonstige Religionen Indigene Religionen
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Das Priestertum
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christentum/Christliche Theologie Allgemein

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Figures

The Preamble

Introduction

PART I

Framework, Religion, and Theology

1 The Construction

2 Religion, Space, and Slavery in Context

3 History and Theology of Christian Social Ministry in Context

PART 2

Methods and Empirical Data

4 Diaconal Methodology: Entry and In-Field Research Experience

5 Narratives by Liberators, Gatekeepers, and Survivors of Ritual Servitudes

PART 3

Theories and Interpretations

6 The Theory of Heterotopia and the Trokosi Shrines as Sacred Spaces

7 Trokosi Women’s Body-Spaces as Heterotopia: Spatial Deconstruction and Reconstruction

8 Liberating Heterotopic Diakonia: A Contextual Approach to Christian Social Practice

9 Free Indeed! Ritual Servitude and Christian Social Practice as Religion and Development Praxis

Index

Über Autor(innen)

David Stiles-Ocran is an affiliated researcher in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Oslo, Norway.