Citizen Mobilization in Africa: A Role for Grassroots, Faith-Based Organizations?
Year: 2013
Type: preprint
Abstract: This paper addresses a timely and crucial issue in Africa. Roughly two decades after democratic liberalization in many African countries, corruption, limited rule of law, and low leadership accountability remain (Gyimah-Boadi 2004; Tripp 2010). Citizen involvement in politics is limited despite attempts to educate citizens about the need to hold leaders accountable (Ruitta 2009). While a few Christian leaders have begun to act on the need for citizenship development (Sanneh 2011), little is known about these efforts, particularly at the grassroots level. This paper investigates the role of local faith-based organizations in citizen mobilization in Africa. Citizen mobilization includes, but is not limited to, civic education, political advocacy, and leadership training. During the summer of 2013, the authors of this paper will conduct fieldwork that will include interviews and the analysis of organizational documents with two grassroots Christian organizations. Zwane Centre in South Africa and Jubilee Centre in Zambiathat are engaged in citizen mobilization. This paper presentation will present the findings on this research. Through its analysis of how and why local Christian organizations engage in citizen mobilization, the paper will contribute to scholarship on citizenship and democratic transitions, religion and politics, and social movements in Africa.
Source: SSRN Electronic Journal
Authors: Tracy Kuperus, Amy S. Patterson
Institution: Sewanee: The University of the South
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W74885757