CFP: Religion and Violence in Africa

Special volume of RELIGIONS: Religion and Violence in Africa

As elsewhere, in Africa religion and violence take many forms, and often intersect on many levels, from the micro to the macro. Micro forms of such intersections include animal sacrifice and domestive violence, whereas macro forms include national and inter-state warfare and the religious legitmation of social and political oppression. Violence itself is more often structural and/or symbolic than overt and physical, meanwhile, and this is of keen scholarly interest. Yet, for its part, religion sometimes also serves as a prophylaxis against violence, as a source of healing for victims of violence, and as an instrument of reconciliation and justice. We seek studies that examine the relationship between religion and violence throughout Africa and welcome articles that explore the impact of extra-continental actors on religion’s role in either alleviating or exacerbating violence in African socieities. Also of interest is the relative absence of violence between and within various religious communities in Africa, as well as violence related to sorcery and witchcraft and religion’s negotiation thereof. All historical periods and geographic regions are welcome as foci, as are any methodological approaches the produce new knowledge about the relationship between religion and violence in Africa. The editors request that articles, proposals, and inquiries be sent to them by March 15, 2019, while final drafts of accepted papers will be due by July 1, 2019,