Yvan Droz

Christianismes et démocratisation au Kenya

The involvement of Christianity in Kenyan politics cannot be understood without considering the role it has played in the coproduction of the colonial and postcolonial state. Churches participate in the construction of both ethnic and socio-economic identity. This can only weaken their status as ‘moral referees’ in Kenyan politics. The emergence of new religious movements and unidentified politico-religious objects alters the way religion plays the political game. In addition, the neotraditional politico-religious movements – a synthesis of the influences of Christianity and of supposedly ‘traditional’ religions – induce the milicialization of political life with its cortege of popular violence and abuse. The ‘liturgical’ call to a reinvented tradition reveals a new set of ethnic identities. As can be seen, Christianity and democratization in Kenya continue their dangerous tango, in which they are creating new steps.

From Converts to Itinerants: Religious Butinage as Dynamic Identity

Anthropologists and sociologists studying religious practices have to navigate through terminological preconceptions that assume religious identity to be essentially stable, only interrupted at times by dramatic instances of conversion. In this article, we introduce a metaphor as a way of thinking about religious phenomena outside of an exclusivist theological model and as self-fashioned, flexible, mobile, and composite practice. Using an allusion to the behavior of pollinizing insects, we speak of religious butinage as a way of stimulating the discussion regarding such dynamic religious practice, proposing that religious mobility is perhaps more common than some are inclined to think. By presenting the case in favor of this metaphor, we invite a fresh perspective on religious practices and religious identity.

La mobilité religieuse à l’aune du butinage

In this article, we consider the place of religious mobility as one of the fundamental social structures governing religious practice. Rather than considering stable institutional loyalty as the norm, as indeed implied by common conceptions of religion, we suggest an alternative in the form of religious butinage, whose core feature is dynamic, polymorphous mobility. The notion of religious butinage thus reverses the classic perspective that sees religious mobility, and in particular conversion, as an exceptional occurrence requiring explanation through recourse to external factors (for example, social changes, economic transformation, or psychological hardships).

The Sheep-Stealing Dilemma: The Ambiguities of Church Visits in Kenya

Among Kenyan Christians, the distinction between the terms ‘church member’ and ‘visitor’ is widely used, and occasional visits to non-membership churches are a common practice. In our ethnographic research in urban Kenya (Nairobi and Kisumu), we observed how, across denominations, church visits abide by similar, formalized, and ritualized codes. Through an analysis of the subtleties of this institutionalized practice, we expose a fundamental tension in which even as church leaders are expected to act in the spirit of Christian unity and avoid proselytizing visitors from other churches, they also seek to maximize the use of church visits as an effective instrument for recruiting new members. Investigating how churches manage this ‘sheep-stealing dilemma’, we analyze some institutional strategies that favour membership retention and attraction without formally undermining the social legitimacy of church visits.

Jeunesse et âge adulte en pays kikuyu: des éthos précoloniaux aux nouveaux mouvements politico-religieux

A la suite de nos travaux sur l’enfance et la circoncision en pays kikuyu, nous etudions ici le passage a l’âge adulte et ses nouvelles formes dans le Kenya contemporain. Tout d’abord, nous presentons rapidement les anciens modes de passage a l’âge adulte (rites de circoncision, mariage et naissance du premier enfant) et l’ethos qu’ils inscrivaient chez les impetrants, c’est-a-dire la construction des ethos masculin et feminin traditionnelle. Nous evoquons ensuite les difficultes que rencontrent les jeunes hommes et femmes pour correspondre aux attentes sociales que comportent ces statuts dans un univers ou la terre et les emplois (necessaires pour y repondre) se font toujours plus rares, alors que les razzias — mode alternatif d’accomplissement personnel — ne sont plus possibles. Nous concluons notre propos en esquissant les nouvelles formes de masculinite et de feminite que proposent le pentecotisme et les groupes politico-religieux de vigilants. En effet, nous avancons l’hypothese qu’une partie de leur succes est du aux formes innovantes — ou neotraditionnelles — de roles d’adultes qu’ils presentent.