TEN POINTS ON LAW AND RELIGION SCHOLARSHIP IN AFRICA

M. Christian GreenAfrican Consortium for Law and Religion Studies

Third International Conference, Windhoek, NamibiaMay 19, 2015

(1) AFRICAN• What is distinctly

African about our work in law and religion?

• How do African scholars interact with and appropriate non-African scholarship?

• What are the key things that global law and religion scholarship need to know about Africa?

(2) CHRISTIANITY & ISLAM

• Are Christianity and Islam to be considered as strictly imported religions?

• Are they merely products & vestiges of colonialism?

• How have Africans appropriated, innovated, and developed their own versions of these two large and growing world religions?

(3) INDIGENOUS, INDEPENDENT & ATR

• What is the status of African Traditional Religions and African Independent/Indigenous Churches in the African religious landscape?

• Are they wholly indigenous or importantly syncretized with Christianity, Islam, and other religions?

(4) SECULARISM

• Has secularism ever happened in Africa?

• Is it happening in Africa today?

• What does secularism or postsecularism mean in an African context?

(5) CULTURE & CUSTOM

• How do religion and culture relate to one another in Africa?

• What is the difference between religion and culture?

• How does customary law relate to secular and religious law in Africa?

(6) RACE & ETHNICITY

• What is the relationship between religion, race, and ethnicity in Africa?

• What does it mean to label conflicts as ethnic or political instead of religious?

• How can African experiences inform global discussions of race, ethnicity, and religion?

(7) GENDER & SEXUALITY• How does religion

shape gender and sexuality debates in Africa?

• How do these debates in Africa relate to similar debates around the world?

• What can we do to bring more African women scholars and practitioners to ACLARS?

(8) RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

• What is the status of religious freedom in Africa today?

• Is the idea of religious freedom a Western, Christian, or colonial import?

• What are some distinctly African sources of and resources for religious freedom?

(9) RELIGIOUS PLURALISM

• What is the state of religious pluralism in Africa? • Where is pluralism problematic, contested, violent? • Where in Africa is religious pluralism being done well?

(10) SOCIAL MEDIAGet connected and publicize your ACLARS work on:

. . . and more!

Share this link: http://www.africansunmedia.co.za/Sun-e-Shop/tabid/78/ProductId/414/Default.aspx

And this one:www.aclars.org