Climate, security, and the study of religion in Africa: Insights from Northern Mozambique

How the security risks associated with climate change, such as social instability and conflicts over dwindling resources, impact the study of religion in Africa has received limited attention from scholars of African religions, despite the need to determine how these impacts influence how religion i...

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Autores principales: Tarusarira, Joram, Maviza, Gracsious
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/176569
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author Tarusarira, Joram
Maviza, Gracsious
author_browse Maviza, Gracsious
Tarusarira, Joram
author_facet Tarusarira, Joram
Maviza, Gracsious
author_sort Tarusarira, Joram
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description How the security risks associated with climate change, such as social instability and conflicts over dwindling resources, impact the study of religion in Africa has received limited attention from scholars of African religions, despite the need to determine how these impacts influence how religion is conceptualized. However, climate-related security risks intersect with religious beliefs and practices. This article draws on participatory methodologies and an ethnographic study of the security risks stemming from climate change in northern Mozambique. It demonstrates that the emergence of security challenges related to climate change provides religious studies with new data and, therefore, new challenges in rethinking the meaning of African religions. It also shows the significance of attributing religion to climate disasters among religious communities, exposes the epistemological assumptions and conflicts over the role of religion in social challenges, and demonstrates the transcendence of religious differences in times of widespread social crises. The article thus contributes to setting the stage for future studies that aim to understand how climate-driven vulnerabilities change the conception of and engagement with religion in Africa.
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spelling CGSpace1765692025-12-08T10:11:39Z Climate, security, and the study of religion in Africa: Insights from Northern Mozambique Tarusarira, Joram Maviza, Gracsious climate change peacebuilding conflicts religion How the security risks associated with climate change, such as social instability and conflicts over dwindling resources, impact the study of religion in Africa has received limited attention from scholars of African religions, despite the need to determine how these impacts influence how religion is conceptualized. However, climate-related security risks intersect with religious beliefs and practices. This article draws on participatory methodologies and an ethnographic study of the security risks stemming from climate change in northern Mozambique. It demonstrates that the emergence of security challenges related to climate change provides religious studies with new data and, therefore, new challenges in rethinking the meaning of African religions. It also shows the significance of attributing religion to climate disasters among religious communities, exposes the epistemological assumptions and conflicts over the role of religion in social challenges, and demonstrates the transcendence of religious differences in times of widespread social crises. The article thus contributes to setting the stage for future studies that aim to understand how climate-driven vulnerabilities change the conception of and engagement with religion in Africa. 2025-04-28 2025-09-18T12:43:15Z 2025-09-18T12:43:15Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/176569 en Open Access application/pdf Tarusarira, J.; Maviza, G. (2025) Climate, security, and the study of religion in Africa: Insights from Northern Mozambique. Utambuzi 8(1): p. 82-93. ISSN: 2311-5661
spellingShingle climate change
peacebuilding
conflicts
religion
Tarusarira, Joram
Maviza, Gracsious
Climate, security, and the study of religion in Africa: Insights from Northern Mozambique
title Climate, security, and the study of religion in Africa: Insights from Northern Mozambique
title_full Climate, security, and the study of religion in Africa: Insights from Northern Mozambique
title_fullStr Climate, security, and the study of religion in Africa: Insights from Northern Mozambique
title_full_unstemmed Climate, security, and the study of religion in Africa: Insights from Northern Mozambique
title_short Climate, security, and the study of religion in Africa: Insights from Northern Mozambique
title_sort climate security and the study of religion in africa insights from northern mozambique
topic climate change
peacebuilding
conflicts
religion
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/176569
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