The received account on African evangelical Christianity regarding social witness in a section of Western scholarship is that it is anti-development and a-political. Such an account heavily draws from an instrumentalist and functionalist assessment of such Christianity without recourse to its emic perspective. Using the case-study method, this book presents an ethnographic examination of this functionalist reading by investigating, describing and analysing evangelical Christian theological and socio-political consciousness within the context of oil and conflict in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region. Adopting approaches from practical theology, congregational studies, and anthropology of religion, the author challenges such a reading using data gathered from three congregations in the region. His discourse revolves around answers to the following four critical questions: • What are the underlying theological issues and beliefs of Nigerian evangelical Christians within the context of oil and conflict? • What is their prevalent praxis within the context of Nigeria’s political economy of oil and conflict? •How accurate is the received account that African evangelical and ‘fundamentalist’ Christianity lacks social responsibility and is a-political and anti-development? • What would a contextual political theology for Nigeria’s political economy of oil look like? The theological issues are varied and the prevalent praxis nuanced, which then serves as a veritable critique of the claim that African evangelical Christianity lacks social responsibility due to its preoccupation with soul-winning. Whereas such Christianity places much emphasis on the winning of souls as an expression of its spirituality, it is neither oblivious nor indifferent to its socio-political milieu. Rather it sees such spirituality as a form of political praxis. Some of the trajectories of the spirituality include a theology of conversion, a theology of prayer, and an ethics of crude oil, with Total Freedom as the nomenclature for the specific theological perspective offered for Nigeria’s political economy of oil. While locating this theological perspective within the taxonomy of Liberation Theology, the affinity and dissonance between the two are identified.

This book has been compiled following the quality and reception of papers presented at the Moving Forward Postgraduate Conference, held at the University of Aberdeen, 21–22 July 2009. The volume comprises editorial and seven substantive papers on the themes of ‘tradition and transformation’, carefully chosen by the editorial team from in excess of fifty full written papers. These represent and tender a wide range of scholarly approaches to and within the arts and social sciences; the remit of Moving Forward. Each paper has been catered to a non-specialist audience in order to make the collection more widely accessible. Although ‘tradition and transformation’ seems loose terminology in many respects, it struck the editors that the dichotomy between past and future, the desire to respect history but also to effect change, and the presence of the present, were three issues that resounded throughout the conference contributions, but were those specifically captured within the selected papers. From each of six disciplinary areas, ranging across the arts and social sciences, delegates use the freedom of their positions as early-career researchers to boldly explore relations between these concepts without fear of censure, but with enthusiasm and energy for academic knowledge development and contribution. Indeed, through the papers chosen for inclusion here, distinct in their disciplinary origins, approaches and foci, we emphasise the many similarities that exist among the arts and social sciences subjects.

Euro-Western descriptions of knowledge and its sources fall short of accommodating the spiritual, experiential terrain of the imagination. What of the embodied, affective knowing that characterizes Pentecostal epistemology, that is, the distinctive Pentecostal-Charismatic knowing derived from dreams and visions (D/Vs)? In this stunning ethnographic work, the author merges African scholarship with an investigation of what visioners say about the significance of their D/Vs for Christian life and spirituality. Revealing data showcases case studies for their biblical and theological articulations of the value of D/V experiences and affirms them as sources of Pentecostal love, ministerial agency, and the missionary impulse.

Singing the same song is a central part of the worship practice for members for the Cherubim and Seraphim Christian Church in Lagos, Nigeria. Vicki L. Brennan reveals that by singing together, church members create one spiritual mind and become unified around a shared set of values. She follows parishioners as they attend choir rehearsals, use musical media—hymn books and cassette tapes—and perform the music and rituals that connect them through religious experience. Brennan asserts that church members believe that singing together makes them part of a larger imagined social collective, one that allows them to achieve health, joy, happiness, wealth, and success in an ethical way. Brennan discovers how this particular Yoruba church articulates and embodies the moral attitudes necessary to be a good Christian in Nigeria today.

The book is aimed at students and scholars of conflict, Africa, ethnic politics, and religion. It may also appeal to religious and political leaders. It proposes a new perspective on how ethnicity and religion shape political outcomes and violence in Africa, adding psychological elements to standard political science arguments.

Nigeria, Africa's most populated country is rich in ethnic diversity - a reason why it suffers from many conflicts. The country is one of the top five oil producers. The recent resource crisis in the Niger Delta is caused by poor division of resources, underdevelopment, and mismanagement. The failure of the young democracy would have a vehement effect in the country and in Africa as a whole. The government has to consolidate its democracy, uphold unity and sovereignty. To secure democracy it will need support from the Nigerians themselves, the multinational oil companies and the international world.

Although the world's poorest inhabited continent, Africa has recently shown signs of being a source of economic growth in the coming decades, with increased foreign investment - notably from China - and huge growth in GDP from a number of African states. In contrast to the heaving weight of books focusing on business opportunities in Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America, Africa has been poorly served by academic publishing. This compendium of scholarship offers cutting-edge knowledge relating to business in Africa. The objectives of this collection include: To shed new light on the socio-cultural and historical underpinnings of business practice in Africa and their implications for promoting entrepreneurship and business behaviour in the region To consider the important constraints on business activities in Africa, and the emerging 'best practice' for redressing their real and potential impacts To facilitate a better understanding of contemporary business practice in Africa through the application of relevant theories and models, including emergent ones. The Routledge Companion to Business in Africa is a comprehensive reference resource that provides the perfect platform for embarking on research and study into Africa from the business perspective.

The third edition of this acclaimed anthology explores the changing nature of politics in the developing world in the twenty-first century. Featuring work from an esteemed line-up of international contributors, Politics in the Developing World, Third Edition, provides comprehensive coverage of the field by combining theoretical approaches with discussions on social and cultural context, state governance, and such key policy issues as the environment and human rights. In addition, a section of in-depth case studies allows students to compare the political situations in a wide range of developing countries, from Indonesia and Iraq to India and China. Revised and updated, the third edition features: * New chapters on "Institutional Approaches" and "From Conflict to Peace-Building" and a reworked chapter on governance, aid, and globalization * Three new extended case studies on India, Iraq, and China * Updated material throughout that reflects the ongoing evolution of political regimes and development policies in the wake of recent events including the 2008 global financial crisis A Companion Website featuring student resources including case studies (updated with new material, including cases on Iran and Brazil), a flashcard glossary, study questions, and links

In this groundbreaking collection, leading historians, Africanists, and other scholars document the life and work of twelve Igbo intellectuals who, educated within European traditions, came to terms with the dominance of European thought while making significant contributions to African intellectual traditions.

The main objective of this book is to re-evaluate the true meaning of the term poverty' in the world as a whole and in Nigeria in particular. From a sociological point of view, poverty is the natural consequence of economic inequity amongst social groups, a type of inequity often generated by the inability of the political class to provide and maintain basic amenities in the society. This book highlights so many complex reasons that are responsible for this type of inability, prominent amongst them being mismanagement of funds in most political setups. Our investigation from this book shows that there's a great difference between the various forms of poverty in western countries and in other countries of the world. Poverty may be caused by individual, social, cultural, ethical and moral issues. These various causes of poverty are often correlated. In Nigeria, poverty is mainly caused by lack of moral sensitivities amongst political leaders and by lack of initiatives for cultural, social and economic empowerment of the less privileged. Most striking is the fact that there is no basic well-established governmental structure meant to assist those who languish in poverty. This book discusses the real-life situation of those who suffer and are living in abject poverty. The book also discusses proposals that can help improve their condition. In line with this, the effective contributions the church can make in order to fight poverty will be taken into consideration. In fact, it is not enough for the church to know that the situation of long-term injustice in Nigeria is crippling the country; rather, she has also to live up to her mission vis-à-vis the poor and the marginalised who are living in the country.