Social Power and Politics in Africa

This book investigates the ways in which forms of social power such as magic, religion, the state and democracy, coexist in Africa, coming together in cooperative and sometimes conflictual ways to form the essence of politics.

Contrary to some assumptions, the book argues that magic and religion are not marginal to political modernity but are instead central to contemporary political authority in many African countries. Drawing on cases from across the continent, the book suggests that magic and religion are prominent in social milieux, where the perceptions of control over supernatural forces are seen as important, but they are also by no means absent in legal rational political systems. Religious authorities in Africa are often sought assiduously by heads of state, and the rituals and symbols of the modern state and liberal democracy are often inspired by, if not directly borrowed from, magic (i.e., charisma) and religion, producing what is called in this book secular magic. For social power manifests not only in the application of force and delivery of public goods but also in the production of enchantment, of which magic and religion are the principal sources. The book also argues that social power forms are isomorphic, taking on each other’s features substantively and symbolically as competing elite factions derive strength from their putative ability to harness temporal and spiritual power sources.

Multidisciplinary in scope, this book will be of interest to researchers across African studies, political science, anthropology, sociology and religious studies.