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‘Mutuality in mission’: studying the scholarly ideals and practices of Frans J. Verstraelen and Gerdien Verstraelen-Gilhuis (1942–89)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 November 2023
Abstract
This article sheds light on the scholarly ideal of mutuality in the work of the missiologist, Frans J. Verstraelen, and the historian, Gerdien Verstraelen-Gilhuis. The couple were active in Zambia in the 1970s and devoutly Christian. Stemming from the theology of mission, mutuality refers to mutual assistance between ‘localized’ churches relating to personnel, material resources and, importantly, ideas. The ideal was posited during mission conferences and the Second Vatican Council (1962–65) in an effort to alter the relationship between former colonial metropoles and churches in newly independent countries. By highlighting different types of sources from the Verstraelen Collection, an image emerges of how the ideal of mutuality manifested itself in scholarly practices of fieldwork and knowledge dissemination. This study was inspired by Larissa Schulte Nordholt’s recent doctoral research on the drafting process of UNESCO’s General History of Africa (1964–1998). In scholarly personae and ideals she identified a useful lens through which to explore how processes of knowledge production on the African continent changed along with political decolonization.
Résumé
Cet article apporte un éclairage sur l’idéal savant de mutualité dans l'œuvre du missiologiste Frans J. Verstraelen et de l’historienne Gerdien Verstraelen-Gilhuis. Ce couple de dévots chrétiens exerçait en Zambie dans les années 1970. Issue de la théologie de la mission, la mutualité fait référence à l’assistance mutuelle entre Églises « localisées » concernant les ressources humaines et matérielles, mais aussi et surtout les idées. L’idéal fut avancé lors de conférences de mission et le Concile œcuménique Vatican II (1962-1965) pour tenter de modifier la relation entre les anciennes métropoles coloniales et les Églises dans les pays nouvellement indépendants. En mettant en avant différents types de sources de la Verstraelen Collection, une image émerge du mode de manifestation de l’idéal de mutualité dans les pratiques savantes de recherche de terrain et de dissémination du savoir. Cette étude s’est inspirée des récents travaux de recherche de doctorat de Larissa Schulte Nordholt sur le processus d’élaboration de l’Histoire générale de l’Afrique (1964-1998) de l’UNESCO. Elle a identifié dans les personnages et les idéaux savants un prisme utile à travers lequel explorer les processus de production du savoir sur le continent africain ont changé avec la décolonisation politique.
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- © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the International African Institute
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