Publisher's Synopsis
The significant and varied ways in which religion impacts on the politics of modern Africa is a relatively neglected field. This book assembles and analyses an enormous amount of hitherto scattered material on the interaction between politics and religious groups in the post-independence era. Jeffrey Haynes focuses on the three main religious traditions - Christian, Islamic and the variety of 'syncretistic' movements. His thematic and comparative approach embraces Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone Africa, and seeks to locate the role of religion in the African political process in its historical, social and international contexts.