Spirituality, Seeking, and Conflict
Extremism within the Deobandi Movement in Britain: Historical, Geopolitical and Ideological Factors
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Farid Harouit
The Deobandi movement was founded in 1867 in the Indian sub-continent and was imported to Britain during the 1950’s. By building on Quintan Wiktorowcz’ model, according to which radicalisation is the result of political grievances and ideology, and Robert Pape’s study, which demonstrates that nationalism is at the heart of terrorism, this paper purports to examine the historical, geopolitical and ideological factors leading to the rise of an extremist violent fringe within the Deobandi movement in Britain. The study shows that concerns and grievances over colonial history, Bangladesh’s secession war in 1971, the conflict in Kashmir, the military intervention in Afghanistan and the war on terror led to the rise of radicalisation within the Deobandi movement not only in the Indian sub-continent but also in Britain.
Fragments of a Black Woman: Spirituality in the Context of Empire
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Fundiswa Kobo
A number of scholars articulate the traditional African way of life as interconnected with a strong sense of community. Worship and spirituality in such a community is a fusion of various aspects of life. There is no life without spirituality and no spirituality without life. In the African heritage that is marked by interconnectedness as suggested by several scholars, nuanced in the Xhosa proverb umntu ngumntu ngabantu, dialogue is fundamental. But the fragmenting of a black woman in this heritage poses critical questions on the comprehensive liberation of black Africans as a whole. The fragmenting of a black woman, which cannot be separated from the fragmenting nature of the ethos of Empire. The continuation of the imperial spirit, inaugurated by a civilization that marked black bodies since 1492 at least, has left and rendered black women in particular into fragments. The struggle and resistance to liberate her African heritage of interconnectedness of life is now at risk of crumbling, life threatening and truly spiritual.
Voodoo Spiritualism and Ecology
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Alan S. Weber
Although Haitian Voodoo–a syncretic new world religion based on West African cults such as the Vodun of the Ewe and Fon – has been well documented by sociologists and theologians, the practices of Voodoo have not received sufficient attention in ecocritical and ecotheological scholarship. The religion’s relationship to fetishes and nature worship is founded on the worship of ancestral spirits, called the Lwa (Loa) who “have dominion over natural elements, such as fire, water, wind, trees, and plants, including the secrets of the medicinal properties of these elements and illnesses and their cures.” Ironically, Haiti has suffered some of the world’s greatest anthropogenic ecological disasters in the modern period – deforestation from charcoal production, soil erosion and degradation, water pollution, and unregulated solid waste accumulation. Thus the question arises of how a theology rooted in the natural world should confront unwise stewardship of natural resources that results in real-world human harms such as malnutrition, over-population, disease, and poverty.
