Books by Adriaan van Klinken
Based on in-depth interviews with over twenty inspirational Kenyan and Ugandan Christian and Musl... more Based on in-depth interviews with over twenty inspirational Kenyan and Ugandan Christian and Muslim leaders actively involved in struggles for LGBTIQ rights, this open access book shows how religious leaders in East African countries can be agents of progressive social change.
Through a community-based approach of life-story methodology, a team of field-leading scholars and practitioners from Kenya and the UK draws out crucial, critical insights into the personal, theological and social sacrifices and challenges that these religious leaders face in everyday realities dominated by conservative religious interpretations and theologies. In so doing, they also identify common strategies religious leaders develop to respond to these challenges while keeping true to their mission.
Sacred Queer Stories: Ugandan LGBTQ+ Refugee Lives & the Bible, 2021
Presenting the deeply moving personal life stories of Ugandan LGBTQ+ refugees in Nairobi, Kenya a... more Presenting the deeply moving personal life stories of Ugandan LGBTQ+ refugees in Nairobi, Kenya alongside an analysis of the process in which they creatively engaged with two Bible stories - Daniel in the Lions' Den (Old Testament) and Jesus and the Woman Caught in Adultery (New Testament) - Sacred Queer Stories explores how readings of biblical stories can reveal their experiences of struggle, their hopes for the future, and their faith in God and humanity. Arguing that the telling of life-stories of marginalised people, such as of Ugandan LGBTQ+ refugees, affirms embodied existence and agency, is socially and politically empowering, and enables human solidarity, the authors also show how the Bible as an authoritative religious text and popular cultural archive in Africa is often used against LGBTQ+ people but can also be reclaimed as a site of meaning, healing, and empowerment. The result of a collaborative project between UK-based academics and a Nairobi-based organisation of Ugandan LGBTQ+ refugees, the book provides a valuable insight into the narrative politics and theologies of LGBTQ+ life-storytelling. A key text for those in African Humanities, Queer Studies, Religious Studies, and Refugee Studies, among others, the book expresses an innovative methodology of inter-reading queer life-stories and biblical stories.
Issues of same-sex relationships and gay and lesbian rights are the subject of public and politic... more Issues of same-sex relationships and gay and lesbian rights are the subject of public and political controversy in many African societies today. Frequently, these controversies receive widespread attention both locally and globally, such as with the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda. In the international media, these cases tend to be presented as revealing a deeply-rooted homophobia in Africa fuelled by religious and cultural traditions. But so far little energy is expended in understanding these controversies in all their complexity and the critical role religion plays in them. This is the first book with multidisciplinary perspectives on religion and homosexuality in Africa. It presents case studies from across the continent, from Egypt to Zimbabwe and from Senegal to Kenya, and covers religious traditions such as Islam, Christianity and Rastafarianism. The contributors explore the role of religion in the politicisation of homosexuality, investigate local and global mobilisations of power, critically examine dominant religious discourses, and highlight the emergence of counter-discourses. Hence they reveal the crucial yet ambivalent public role of religion in matters of sexuality, social justice and human rights in contemporary Africa.
African Arguments series, 2021
Religion is often seen as a conservative force in contemporary Africa. In particular, Christian b... more Religion is often seen as a conservative force in contemporary Africa. In particular, Christian beliefs and actors are usually depicted as driving the opposition to homosexuality and LGBTI rights in African societies. This book nuances that picture, by drawing attention to discourses emerging in Africa itself that engage with religion, specifically Christianity, in progressive and innovative ways—in support of sexual diversity and the quest for justice for LGBTI people.
The authors show not only that African Christian traditions harbour strong potential for countering conservative anti-LGBTI dynamics; but also that this potential has already begun to be realised, by various thinkers, activists and movements across the continent. Their ten case studies document how leading African writers are reimagining Christian thought; how several Christian-inspired groups are transforming religious practice; and how African cultural production creatively appropriates Christian beliefs and symbols. In short, the book explores Christianity as a major resource for a liberating imagination and politics of sexuality and social justice in Africa today.
Foregrounding African agency and progressive religious thought, this highly original intervention counterbalances our knowledge of secular approaches to LGBTI rights in Africa, and powerfully decolonises queer theory, theology and politics.
Kenyan, Christian, Queer: Religion, LGBT Activism, and Arts of Resistance in Africa, 2019
Popular narratives cite religion as the driving force behind homophobia in Africa, portraying Chr... more Popular narratives cite religion as the driving force behind homophobia in Africa, portraying Christianity and LGBT expression as incompatible. Without denying Christianity’s contribution to the stigma, discrimination, and exclusion of same-sex-attracted and gender-variant people on the continent, Adriaan van Klinken presents an alternative narrative, foregrounding the ways in which religion also appears as a critical site of LGBT activism.
Taking up the notion of “arts of resistance,” Kenyan, Christian, Queer presents four case studies of grassroots LGBT activism through artistic and creative expressions—including the literary and cultural work of Binyavanga Wainaina, the “Same Love” music video produced by gay gospel musician George Barasa, the Stories of Our Lives anthology project, and the LGBT-affirming Cosmopolitan Affirming Church. Through these case studies, Van Klinken demonstrates how Kenyan traditions, black African identities, and Christian beliefs and practices are being navigated, appropriated, and transformed in order to allow for queer Kenyan Christian imaginations.
Transdisciplinary in scope and poignantly intimate in tone, Kenyan, Christian, Queer opens up critical avenues for rethinking the nature and future of the relationship between Christianity and queer activism in Kenya and elsewhere in Africa.
London: Routledge, 2019
Religions in Contemporary Africa is an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the three mai... more Religions in Contemporary Africa is an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the three main religious traditions on the African continent, African indigenous religions, Christianity and Islam. The book provides a historical overview of these important traditions and focuses on the roles they play in African societies today. It includes social, cultural and political case studies from across the continent on the following topical issues:
Witchcraft and modernity
Power and politics
Conflict and peace
Media and popular culture
Development
Human rights
Illness and health
Gender and sexuality
With suggestions for further reading, discussion questions, illustrations and a list of glossary terms this is the ideal textbook for students in religion, African studies and adjacent fields approaching this subject area for the first time.
Issues of homosexuality are the subject of public and political controversy in many African socie... more Issues of homosexuality are the subject of public and political controversy in many African societies today. Frequently, these controversies receive widespread attention both locally and globally, such as with the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda. In the international media, these cases tend to be presented as revealing a deeply-rooted homophobia in Africa fuelled by religious and cultural traditions. But so far little energy is expended in understanding these controversies in all their complexity and the critical role religion plays in them.
Complementing the companion volume, ‘Public Religion and the Politics of Homosexuality in Africa’ (2016) this book investigates Christian politics and discourses on homosexuality in sub-Saharan Africa. The contributors present case studies from various African countries, from Nigeria to South Africa and from Cameroon to Uganda, focussing on Pentecostal, Catholic and mainline Protestant churches. They critically examine popular Christian theologies that perpetuate homophobia and discrimination, but they also discuss contestations of such discourses and emerging alternative Christian perspectives that contribute to the recognition of sexual diversity, social justice and human rights in contemporary Africa.
REVIEWS
‘This timely book is a much-needed resource for the facilitation of constructive conversations on sexuality in the African communities, churches and ecumenical movements.’
Musa W. Dube, University of Botswana
‘This book, which is a follow-up to Public Religion and the Politics of Homosexuality in Africa, is starkly illuminating, radically controversial and thought-provoking. They both serve as the catalyst towards breaking the morbid silence on the academic, public discourse on homosexuality in Africa. This book marks a critical watershed in the art of problematizing a practice which many perceive as extraneous to African epistemologies and existential sensibilities. The book is remarkably innovative and I will recommend it, unreservedly, to both “pro- and anti-gay politicians”, but also to avid readers who wish to learn about how the politicization of homosexuality vis-à-vis the religious counterhegemonic discourses has heralded it from whispering rumours into public brouhaha.’
Afe Adogame, The University of Edinburgh, UK
Studies of gender in African Christianity have usually focused on women. This book draws attentio... more Studies of gender in African Christianity have usually focused on women. This book draws attention to men and constructions of masculinity, particularly important in light of the HIV epidemic which has given rise to a critical investigation of dominant forms of masculinity. These are often associated with the spread of HIV, gender-based violence and oppression of women. Against this background Christian theologians and local churches in Africa seek to change men and transform masculinities.
Exploring the complexity and ambiguity of religious gender discourses in contemporary African contexts, this book critically examines the ways in which some progressive African theologians, and a Catholic parish and a Pentecostal church in Zambia, work on a “transformation of masculinities”.
Refereed journal articles by Adriaan van Klinken
QTR: A Journal of Trans and Queer Studies in Religion, 2024
This article examines the writings of the Nigerian author Akwaeke Emezi, in particular their accl... more This article examines the writings of the Nigerian author Akwaeke Emezi, in particular their acclaimed semi-autobiographical novel Freshwater (2018), as a form of African queer and trans autotheorizing. It critically examines the theoretical significance of the indigenous Igbo concept of ọgbanje (spirit-child), which is central in Emezi's self-writing and which serves to decenter and decolonize Western trans terminology. Reading Emezi in conversation with Stella Nyanzi's argument about the queer possibilities of African understandings of spirits, the article argues that ọgbanje is an indigenous concept that allows for transing not just the category of gender, but also of religion and of the human. It further contends that Emezi, through the narrative epistemological frame of ọgbanje, performs a decolonial gesture that interrogates gender dualism, religious orthodoxy, secularity, and anthropocentric thought and that creatively reconceptualizes gender, religion, and, fundamentally, human personhood. Thus, this article advances debates about decolonization, religion, and (trans)gender in the fields of trans studies in religion and queer African studies, as well as in religious and trans/queer studies more broadly.
Journal of the British Academy, 2024
This article offers an introduction to the special section about the theme of 'African ecologies ... more This article offers an introduction to the special section about the theme of 'African ecologies and indigenous knowledges'. It explores the interest of scholars, policy makers and activists in indigenous knowledges as a resource for addressing global challenges, particularly the challenges in relation to the environment and climate change in contemporary Africa. Reviewing current literature and discourse on the subject, this Introduction foregrounds the considerable political, epistemological and methodological significance of indigenous knowledges, especially in the light of ongoing debates about decolonisation, and it highlights their relevance for understanding African ecologies. It further introduces the three articles included in this special section, embedding them in broader fields of scholarship.
Journal of the British Academy, 2024
This article offers an introduction to the special section about the theme of 'African Ecologies:... more This article offers an introduction to the special section about the theme of 'African Ecologies: Literature, Culture and Religion'. It explores the current interdisciplinary field of scholarship on ecology, environment, and climate change in Africa, mapping contributions from across the Humanities and the Social and Environmental Sciences. The article positions this special section in this ever-expanding body of literature, specifically deploying the notion of 'African ecologies' as a heuristic lens to examine how the relationship and interaction between living organisms, including humans, and the natural environment is conceived. It argues that social, cultural, literary, and religious ecology provide vital perspectives to enrich and expand the understanding of African ecologies, thereby expanding inventories of possibilities as climate change response pathways. (This article is published in the thematic collection 'African ecologies: literary, cultural and religious perspectives', edited by Adriaan van Klinken, Simon Manda, Damaris Parsitau and Abel Ugba.
Political Theology, 2023
This interview with Kwame E. Otu (Associate Professor of African Studies, Georgetown University) ... more This interview with Kwame E. Otu (Associate Professor of African Studies, Georgetown University) discusses issues of LGBT rights in Ghana and in Africa more broadly. Occasioned by the publication of Otu's book "Amphibious Subjects: Sasso and the Contested Politics of Queer Self-Making in Neoliberal Ghana" (University of California Press, 2022), the interview explores sasso as an indigenous concept of (same-sex) sexuality, the African philosophy of amphibious subjectivity (Kwame Gyeke), and the religious framing of both African anti-LGBT politics and Western queer humanitarianism.
Journal of Religion and Gender, Oct 2013
Religion and Gender, Oct 14, 2013
The Bible and Politics in Africa, 2012
Citizenship Studies, 2018
Citizenship in sub-Saharan Africa has undergone profound changes in recent decades as part of wid... more Citizenship in sub-Saharan Africa has undergone profound changes in recent decades as part of wider social and political dynamics. One notable development is the emergence of Christianity, especially in its Pentecostal-Charismatic forms, as a public religion. Christian actors, beliefs and practices have increasingly come to manifest themselves in the public sphere, actively engage with politics, define narratives of nationhood, and shape notions of citizenship. A second major development is the emergence of sexuality as a critical site of citizenship and nationhood in postcolonial Africa. On the one hand, many political and religious leaders are invested in a popular ideology of the heterosexual family as the basis of nation-building, while on the other hand, LGBT communities are becoming more visible and claim recognition from the state. The contributions to this special issue engage these two contrasting developments, examining the interconnections between Christianity, sexuality and citizenship empirically and theoretically through case studies in various African contexts and from several academic disciplines and critical perspectives.
Citizenship Studies, 2018
Against the background of the current politicisation of homosexuality and the policing of sexual ... more Against the background of the current politicisation of homosexuality and the policing of sexual citizenship in Kenya and other African countries, this article offers an analysis of the Kenyan gay music video Same Love, released by the band Art Attack in 2016. Employing the concept of acts of citizenship, the article foregrounds the political, ethical and aesthetical aspects through which the lyrics and images of Same Love perform an act of sexual citizenship mediated through art. It argues that as an artistic intervention, the video interrogates popular narratives of homosexuality as un-Kenyan, un-African and un-Christian and creates a sense of a citizenship that is yet to come: a pan-African, Christian and queer citizenship of love. Thus, the article explores the new possibilities of cultural, sexual and religious citizenship created through popular culture and public space in contemporary Africa.
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Books by Adriaan van Klinken
Through a community-based approach of life-story methodology, a team of field-leading scholars and practitioners from Kenya and the UK draws out crucial, critical insights into the personal, theological and social sacrifices and challenges that these religious leaders face in everyday realities dominated by conservative religious interpretations and theologies. In so doing, they also identify common strategies religious leaders develop to respond to these challenges while keeping true to their mission.
The authors show not only that African Christian traditions harbour strong potential for countering conservative anti-LGBTI dynamics; but also that this potential has already begun to be realised, by various thinkers, activists and movements across the continent. Their ten case studies document how leading African writers are reimagining Christian thought; how several Christian-inspired groups are transforming religious practice; and how African cultural production creatively appropriates Christian beliefs and symbols. In short, the book explores Christianity as a major resource for a liberating imagination and politics of sexuality and social justice in Africa today.
Foregrounding African agency and progressive religious thought, this highly original intervention counterbalances our knowledge of secular approaches to LGBTI rights in Africa, and powerfully decolonises queer theory, theology and politics.
Taking up the notion of “arts of resistance,” Kenyan, Christian, Queer presents four case studies of grassroots LGBT activism through artistic and creative expressions—including the literary and cultural work of Binyavanga Wainaina, the “Same Love” music video produced by gay gospel musician George Barasa, the Stories of Our Lives anthology project, and the LGBT-affirming Cosmopolitan Affirming Church. Through these case studies, Van Klinken demonstrates how Kenyan traditions, black African identities, and Christian beliefs and practices are being navigated, appropriated, and transformed in order to allow for queer Kenyan Christian imaginations.
Transdisciplinary in scope and poignantly intimate in tone, Kenyan, Christian, Queer opens up critical avenues for rethinking the nature and future of the relationship between Christianity and queer activism in Kenya and elsewhere in Africa.
Witchcraft and modernity
Power and politics
Conflict and peace
Media and popular culture
Development
Human rights
Illness and health
Gender and sexuality
With suggestions for further reading, discussion questions, illustrations and a list of glossary terms this is the ideal textbook for students in religion, African studies and adjacent fields approaching this subject area for the first time.
Complementing the companion volume, ‘Public Religion and the Politics of Homosexuality in Africa’ (2016) this book investigates Christian politics and discourses on homosexuality in sub-Saharan Africa. The contributors present case studies from various African countries, from Nigeria to South Africa and from Cameroon to Uganda, focussing on Pentecostal, Catholic and mainline Protestant churches. They critically examine popular Christian theologies that perpetuate homophobia and discrimination, but they also discuss contestations of such discourses and emerging alternative Christian perspectives that contribute to the recognition of sexual diversity, social justice and human rights in contemporary Africa.
REVIEWS
‘This timely book is a much-needed resource for the facilitation of constructive conversations on sexuality in the African communities, churches and ecumenical movements.’
Musa W. Dube, University of Botswana
‘This book, which is a follow-up to Public Religion and the Politics of Homosexuality in Africa, is starkly illuminating, radically controversial and thought-provoking. They both serve as the catalyst towards breaking the morbid silence on the academic, public discourse on homosexuality in Africa. This book marks a critical watershed in the art of problematizing a practice which many perceive as extraneous to African epistemologies and existential sensibilities. The book is remarkably innovative and I will recommend it, unreservedly, to both “pro- and anti-gay politicians”, but also to avid readers who wish to learn about how the politicization of homosexuality vis-à-vis the religious counterhegemonic discourses has heralded it from whispering rumours into public brouhaha.’
Afe Adogame, The University of Edinburgh, UK
Exploring the complexity and ambiguity of religious gender discourses in contemporary African contexts, this book critically examines the ways in which some progressive African theologians, and a Catholic parish and a Pentecostal church in Zambia, work on a “transformation of masculinities”.
Refereed journal articles by Adriaan van Klinken
Through a community-based approach of life-story methodology, a team of field-leading scholars and practitioners from Kenya and the UK draws out crucial, critical insights into the personal, theological and social sacrifices and challenges that these religious leaders face in everyday realities dominated by conservative religious interpretations and theologies. In so doing, they also identify common strategies religious leaders develop to respond to these challenges while keeping true to their mission.
The authors show not only that African Christian traditions harbour strong potential for countering conservative anti-LGBTI dynamics; but also that this potential has already begun to be realised, by various thinkers, activists and movements across the continent. Their ten case studies document how leading African writers are reimagining Christian thought; how several Christian-inspired groups are transforming religious practice; and how African cultural production creatively appropriates Christian beliefs and symbols. In short, the book explores Christianity as a major resource for a liberating imagination and politics of sexuality and social justice in Africa today.
Foregrounding African agency and progressive religious thought, this highly original intervention counterbalances our knowledge of secular approaches to LGBTI rights in Africa, and powerfully decolonises queer theory, theology and politics.
Taking up the notion of “arts of resistance,” Kenyan, Christian, Queer presents four case studies of grassroots LGBT activism through artistic and creative expressions—including the literary and cultural work of Binyavanga Wainaina, the “Same Love” music video produced by gay gospel musician George Barasa, the Stories of Our Lives anthology project, and the LGBT-affirming Cosmopolitan Affirming Church. Through these case studies, Van Klinken demonstrates how Kenyan traditions, black African identities, and Christian beliefs and practices are being navigated, appropriated, and transformed in order to allow for queer Kenyan Christian imaginations.
Transdisciplinary in scope and poignantly intimate in tone, Kenyan, Christian, Queer opens up critical avenues for rethinking the nature and future of the relationship between Christianity and queer activism in Kenya and elsewhere in Africa.
Witchcraft and modernity
Power and politics
Conflict and peace
Media and popular culture
Development
Human rights
Illness and health
Gender and sexuality
With suggestions for further reading, discussion questions, illustrations and a list of glossary terms this is the ideal textbook for students in religion, African studies and adjacent fields approaching this subject area for the first time.
Complementing the companion volume, ‘Public Religion and the Politics of Homosexuality in Africa’ (2016) this book investigates Christian politics and discourses on homosexuality in sub-Saharan Africa. The contributors present case studies from various African countries, from Nigeria to South Africa and from Cameroon to Uganda, focussing on Pentecostal, Catholic and mainline Protestant churches. They critically examine popular Christian theologies that perpetuate homophobia and discrimination, but they also discuss contestations of such discourses and emerging alternative Christian perspectives that contribute to the recognition of sexual diversity, social justice and human rights in contemporary Africa.
REVIEWS
‘This timely book is a much-needed resource for the facilitation of constructive conversations on sexuality in the African communities, churches and ecumenical movements.’
Musa W. Dube, University of Botswana
‘This book, which is a follow-up to Public Religion and the Politics of Homosexuality in Africa, is starkly illuminating, radically controversial and thought-provoking. They both serve as the catalyst towards breaking the morbid silence on the academic, public discourse on homosexuality in Africa. This book marks a critical watershed in the art of problematizing a practice which many perceive as extraneous to African epistemologies and existential sensibilities. The book is remarkably innovative and I will recommend it, unreservedly, to both “pro- and anti-gay politicians”, but also to avid readers who wish to learn about how the politicization of homosexuality vis-à-vis the religious counterhegemonic discourses has heralded it from whispering rumours into public brouhaha.’
Afe Adogame, The University of Edinburgh, UK
Exploring the complexity and ambiguity of religious gender discourses in contemporary African contexts, this book critically examines the ways in which some progressive African theologians, and a Catholic parish and a Pentecostal church in Zambia, work on a “transformation of masculinities”.
aims to open up religion in African literature as an exciting and productive field of study that is of critical interest to students of African literature, religion and literature, and African religions. The focus of this guide is on postcolonial and contemporary Anglophone literature from across sub‐Saharan Africa, both relating to indigenous religions, Christianity and Islam as culturally embedded in African histories, cultures and societies.
This educational guide is a resource for using the film in classroom settings, in African studies, religious studies, and queer studies courses.