Religion crossing boundaries

About this book

Across the past twenty years major change has taken place in the structure of global society with respect to the nature of migration. The predominant pattern sire at least the eighteenth century had been for peoples to move to and settle in Western countries permanently, with relatively little substantive interchange with thier former homelands, hence adopting the modes of articulation characteristic Of their new societies (a process expressed with respect to the USA, for example, as 'Americanization'). This pattern has now changed, and there is considerable interaction between homeland and migrant peoples. One of the places where this has become especially important is in religious exchanges between Africa and the West. While some negative effects of this process may grab headlines, there have also been extensive positive interactions, not least among African peoples, especially with respect to pentecostal and allied religious movements. The chapters in this book illustrate the variety of these exchanges. -- James V. Spickard is Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Redlands, where he teaches social research Methods. He has written widely on the changing role of religion in the contemporary world. -- Afe Adogame is Assistant Professor in the Religious Studies Department/Center for the Study of World Christianity, University of Edinburgh, where he teaches Religions in Africa and the Diaspora. He has published extensively on the nexus between religion, migration, and globalization. --Book Jacket.