Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don’t: The Paradox of Africana Religions’ Legal Status
The Jamaican government reconsidering the Obeah Act in the summer of 2019 highlighted the legacy of prejudice and criminalization of Africana religious systems and practices left by colonization across ethno-linguistic borders and the broader Black Atlantic. It also highlighted how some traditions s...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
The Pennsylvania State University Press
2022
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| In: |
Journal of Africana religions
Year: 2022, Volume: 10, Issue: 1, Pages: 100-128 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Atlantic
/ Afro-American syncretism
/ Religion
/ Law
/ Colonialism
/ Resistance
/ History 1760-2019
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| IxTheo Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy AG Religious life; material religion AX Inter-religious relations AZ New religious movements KBN Sub-Saharan Africa KBR Latin America TJ Modern history TK Recent history XA Law ZC Politics in general |
| Further subjects: | B
Black Atlantic
B Law B Modernity B Colonialism B Obeah |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The Jamaican government reconsidering the Obeah Act in the summer of 2019 highlighted the legacy of prejudice and criminalization of Africana religious systems and practices left by colonization across ethno-linguistic borders and the broader Black Atlantic. It also highlighted how some traditions such as Béninois Vodun, Candomblé, Santería, and oriṣa worship in parts of Nigeria have successfully managed to combat state policing and prejudice to gain official recognition and legal protection. However, this article analyzes the way even the legal and conceptual success of Africana religions in the modern world places them in a Catch-22. Drawing attention to the fundamental differences between modern conceptions and assumptions of what constitutes “religion,” the article traces the history of how modern political and legal structures either exclude and oppress Africana traditions or exert subtle pressure on them to conform to conceptions of “religion” that are more intelligible and acceptable to their largely Western-based frameworks. |
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| ISSN: | 2165-5413 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of Africana religions
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