Performing Power in Nigeria: Identity, Politics, and Pentecostalism

Pentecostalism has been a powerful socio-cultural and socio-political movement in Africa, imbuing its followers with immense cultural power to shape their societies. Performing Power in Nigeria explores how Nigerian Pentecostals use their faith and various performances to mark their self-distinction as a people of power within a social milieu that affirmed and contested their desires. Abimbola A. Adelakun questions the histories, desires, knowledge, tools, and innate divergences of this form of identity and its interactions with other ideological elements, demonstrating how the social environment is being transformed by the Pentecostal performance of their identity as the people of power.

\n Format: Hardback
\n Length: 290 pages
\n Publication date: 11 November 2021
\n Publisher: Cambridge University Press
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Pentecostalism has emerged as a powerful socio-cultural and socio-political movement across Africa, exerting a significant influence on the continent's societies. The Pentecostal approach to constructing the world through their performative agencies has endowed them with immense cultural power, enabling them to shape the character of their communities. In her book, Performing Power in Nigeria, Abimbola A. Adelakun delves into the ways in which Nigerian Pentecostals assert their identity as a people of power within a social context that both affirms and challenges their aspirations. Through a comprehensive analysis of extensive archival material, interviews, and fieldwork, Adelakun explores the historical roots, desires, knowledge, tools, and inherent divergences of this form of identity, as well as its interactions with other ideological elements within Nigerian society. By examining the significant developments in contemporary Nigerian Pentecostalism, Adelakun demonstrates how the Pentecostal performance of their identity as the people of power is transforming the social environment. This book offers valuable insights into the complex dynamics of power, identity, and religion in Africa, shedding light on the ways in which Pentecostalism is reshaping the social fabric of the continent.

\n Weight: 580g\n
Dimension: 158 x 237 x 24 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9781108831079\n \n