Faith in the Balance

Regulating Religious Affairs in Africa

Edited by Haim Malka

Publication date:

25 October 2019

Length of book:

168 pages

Publisher

Center for Strategic & International Studies

ISBN-13: 9781442281219

This important and timely study, Faith in the Balance: Regulating Religious Affairs in Africa, provides unique insights into how five governments on the African continent do just that: manage the politics of religion and the role of religion in politics. The study looks at each case—Morocco, Tunisia, Nigeria, Kenya, and Burkina Faso—from the perspective of the state, complementing work that has explained religious organizations and belief systems as they relate to the state, seeking to address grievances, or to access resources and security. One important insight from the various cases is the centrality of politics and power relationships, more than doctrinal theological debates, in shaping the state-religion interactions.