The Role Of Religion In Poverty Alleviation In Africa

A Ghanaian scholar of religion argues that poverty is a particularly complex subject in traditional African cultures, where holistic worldviews unite life’s material and spiritual dimensions. A South African ethicist examines informal economies in Ghana, Jamaica, Kenya, and South Africa, looking at their ideological roots, social organization, and vulnerability to global capital. African American theologians offer ethnographic accounts of empowering religious rituals performed in churches in the United States, Jamaica, and South Africa. This important collection brings together these and other Pan-African perspectives on religion and poverty in Africa and the African diaspora. Contributors from Africa and North America explore poverty’s roots and effects, the ways that experiences and understandings of deprivation are shaped by religion, and the capacity and limitations of religion as a means of alleviating poverty. As part of a collaborative project, the contributors visited Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa, as well as Jamaica and the United States. In each location, they met with clergy, scholars, government representatives, and NGO workers, and they examined how religious groups and community organizations address poverty. Their essays complement one another. Some focus on poverty, some on religion, others on their intersection, and still others on social change. A Jamaican scholar of gender studies decries the feminization of poverty, while a Nigerian ethicist and lawyer argues that the protection of human rights must factor into efforts to overcome poverty. A church historian from Togo examines the idea of poverty as a moral virtue and its repercussions in Africa, and a Tanzanian theologian and priest analyzes ujamaa, an African philosophy of community and social change. Taken together, the volume’s essays create a discourse of mutual understanding across linguistic, religious, ethnic, and national boundaries. Contributors. Elizabeth Amoah, Kossi A. Ayedze, Barbara Bailey, Katie G. Cannon, Noel Erskine, Dwight N. Hopkins, Simeon O. Ilesanmi, Laurenti Magesa, Madipoane Masenya, Takatso A. Mofokeng, Esther M. Mombo, Nyambura J. Njoroge, Jacob Olupona, Peter J. Paris, Anthony B. Pinn, Linda E. Thomas, Lewin L. Williams

Poverty reduction is a worldwide concern, yet if the church is to play an effective role in its alleviation, an approach that is both biblical and contextual is required. In Poverty, the Bible, and Africa, Isaac Boaheng formulates a theology of poverty that engages Scripture, African traditional wisdom, and contemporary African concerns to create a paradigm for understanding and alleviating poverty in Africa. Boaheng highlights that, whatever our cultural context, God frowns upon materialism, extravagance, and love for riches; yet the author also demonstrates why a contextual theology must address people’s societal and cultural needs alongside spiritual ones. If we desire a model for poverty reduction that is both theologically sound and contextually appropriate, we must facilitate an encounter between the teachings of Scripture and the socio-economic, political, and religious realities of a particular context. Combining in-depth cultural analysis with careful exegetical reflection, this book offers refreshing insight into the challenge of confronting poverty in Africa. Boaheng’s approach, however, is relevant far beyond the continent and is transferable to any context where others are seeking to effectively understand and combat poverty.

This book offers a timely and compelling look at religion and poverty, focusing primarily on the two largest world religions, Christianity and Islam, and considering religion and poverty in the United States and international contexts. Written by social scientists, the book incorporates relevant theology with a focus on how theology is lived in relation to issues of poverty. Topics include religion as it relates to social service provision, lived religion, philanthropy, faith-based social movements, public policy, and more. This volume synthesizes existing research on religion and poverty and includes new original research. It is an essential resource for upper-level undergraduate or graduate courses focused on religion and poverty and is also an outstanding supplementary text for broader courses in religion, poverty, social welfare, philanthropy, and non-profit organizations.

By integrating cultural, political, social and economic factors the book empirically affirms, the importance of culture, represented by religious values, in the fight against poverty and that political and economic attitudes have a role to play in the development process.

Annotation Discusses the principles and practicalities of a partnership, covering a broad range of development topics.

This publication seeks to determine the need, possibilities, and strategies, necessary to alleviate urban poverty in Mozambique through the tool of transformational business, understood out of a Contextual Theology of Work (CTOW). Focusing on the Maputo metropolitan area, but also wider contexts, the author examines the dynamic relationship of urban poverty, unemployment and work. Recognising that unemployment is the main factor behind poverty in Mozambique and placing great emphasis on kingdom theology the author recommends that evangelical churches need to embrace CTOW and engage positively with urban poverty to create real economic change.