Displacing the State

Rosalind I. J. Hackett is professor and head of religious studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.James Howard Smith is associate professor of anthropology at the University of California, Davis.

"This book adds to the growing literature about religion and conflict in Africa; it documents important traditional African responses to conflicts from a religion and conflict studies dimension; and it offers a different conceptualization of religion and conflict." —African Studies Quarterly"In a Kony 2012 world, where activism often trumps analysis, there is a particular need for thickly grained studies that reflect the complex, multilayered nature of the encounter between African politics and religion. In this sense, Displacing the State delivers. Avoiding a spirit of either triumphalism or cynicism, the volume's eight case studies explore how religious actors instigate conflict, contribute to reconciliation, and 'foster conflict and peace simultaneously' . . . . Hackett's and Smith's text warrants a wide readership among students of political science, religion, and American studies." —Journal of Church and State"Seldom have recent studies of African culture and politics directly treated 'religion and conflict' as such; Displacing the State remedies that omission. The authors collectively explore the ways religions and religious movements employ media, gender roles, social organizations, and translocal cultural values to challenge, reform, and otherwise shape political culture and social structures. Their insightful contributions are sure to push the ongoing scholarly debate on the complex relationships among ethnicity, religion, governance, and conflict in Africa." —R. Scott Appleby, University of Notre Dame"Displacing the State: Religion and Conflict in Neoliberal Africa is an excellent collection of essays grounded in extensive ethnographic work and a critical, historical, and contemporary analysis that brings theory to bear on sociopolitical and religious realities in Africa. The editors, James Howard Smith and Rosalind Hackett, are to be commended for putting together an engaging and riveting text with essays that are grounded historically but, more importantly, focus on contemporary religious communities such as Mungiki in Kenya and the Masowe prophets in Zimbabwe. The compelling analysis of contemporary issues explores attempts at peace building, making this book essential reading for scholars of religion and a requirement for courses on religion and the state." —Elias Kifon Bongmba, Rice University