African Christianity

Its Public Role

Gifford Paul

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This text analyses African Christianity in the mid-1990s, against the background of the continent's current social, economic and political circumstances. Paul Gifford employs concepts taken from political economy to shed light on the current dynamics of African churches and churchgoers, and assesses their different contributions in political developments since 1989. He also evaluates the Churches' role in promoting a civil society in Africa. Four detailed case-studies – Ghana, Uganda, Zambia and Cameroon – cover all strands of Christianity: Catholic, Evangelical, mainline Protestant, Pentecostal and Independent. These serve as detailed analyses of the state of the churches in each country and suggest more general patterns operating widely across sub-Saharan Africa.

About the Author

Paul Gifford is Emeritus Professor of SOAS, University of London. He is the author of several works on African Christianity, including "African Christianity: Its Public Role", "Ghana's New Christianity: Pentecostalism in a Globalising African Economy" and "Christianity, Politics and Public Life in Kenya", all of which were published by Hurst.

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