Social and cultural conditions of religious conversion in colonial Southwest Tanzania, 1891-1939

authored by

Wolfgang Gabbert

Abstract

Starting from a discussion of theoritical approaches to conversion to Christianity, this article discusses the mission of the Protestant Moravian Church among the Nyakyusa of southwestern Tanzania. It shows that the missionaries' success did not depend on the alleged greater rationality of a world religion, nor was it simply a result of colonial domination. It depended on the ability of the missions to address existing inequalities and tensions within Nyakyusa society. Beyond this, the response to Christianity differed widely according to age and gender. (Colonialism, Christian missions, conversion, Nyakyusa, Tanzania).

External Organisation(s)

Freie Universität Berlin (FU Berlin)

Type

Article

Journal

Ethnology

Volume

40

Pages

291-308

No. of pages

18

ISSN

0014-1828

Publication date

2001

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Cultural Studies, Anthropology, Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.2307/3773878 (Access: Closed)