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5 - Contesting Citizenship through Religious Identity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 August 2023

Amy S. Patterson
Affiliation:
University of the South, Tennessee
Tracy Kuperus
Affiliation:
Calvin University, Michigan
Megan Hershey
Affiliation:
Whitworth University, Washington
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Summary

The chapter analyzes how frequent- and infrequent-churchgoing youth understand their citizenship identities and obligations at the local and national levels. Both frequent and infrequent churchgoers highlight communal aspects of citizenship, but frequent churchgoers stress citizenship as faith-inspired actions such as prayer and reciprocal ties in church communities. Frequent churchgoers view citizenship as acts that build the nation, though this citizen goal often has a distinctly Christian tenor. Frequent churchgoers use more legalistic language than infrequent churchgoers and display more political efficacy. Afrobarometer findings confirm that more religious involvement relates to higher political activism, but our respondents illustrate that youth agents at times contest religious leaders’ political messaging and question those leaders’ integrity. Case studies from a renewalist church in Ghana and a mainline Protestant South African leadership program illustrate how youth adapt political messaging as they craft their own citizen identities.

Type
Chapter
Information
Africa's Urban Youth
Challenging Marginalization, Claiming Citizenship
, pp. 118 - 144
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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