Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Malawi – Religion'

The African Muslim minority in Malawi has been identified with one particular linguistic group, the Yao. The dissertation begins with the problem of their conversion and adherence to Islam in the face of seemingly adverse circumstances. In exploring-solutions to this problem the emergence of a Yao identity is outlined and the politics of conversion are described. The narrative then moves on to the transformations of the Yao Muslims in the hundred years since their conversion. A model of religious change is developed that attempts to account for both the dynamics of change and the contemporary situation of Islam in southern Malawi. The Yao Muslims are shown to be divided into three competing and sometimes hostile factions that are termed the Sufis, the sukuti or 'quietist' movement and the new reformists. The appearance of these movements and their interaction with one another is described in relation to the questions of identity and religious practice. The model proposes a three phase scheme of Islamic change (appropriation and accommodation followed by internal reform and then the new reformist movement) that is defined in part by the relationship of the Yao Muslims to writing and the Book. It is suggested that a certain logic of transformation is endogenous to Islam as a religion of the Book and that the scripturalist tendencies of the reformist movement give it an advantage over the followers of Sufi practices, especially in the context of modern systems of communication and education. The general approach is that of an historical anthropology, linking notions of structured change to anthropological concerns with ritual and practice. The analysis concludes by raising questions about the nature of religious change in the context of an increasingly volatile world system and the place of the anthropology of religion in the understanding of modernity.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2009.
Title from electronic title page (viewed Jun. 4, 2010). "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health." Discipline: Epidemiology; Department/School: Public Health.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Depts. of Folklore and Ethnomusicology, 2009.
Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Jul 13, 2010). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-12, Section: A, page: 4494. Adviser: Ruth M. Stone.

Background: Almost two-thirds of the total HIV/AIDS infected populations in the world live in Sub-Saharan Africa. HIV/AIDS stigmas are major obstacles to HIV/AIDS interventions in Sub-Saharan Africa. The literature suggests that diverse factors associated with HIV/AIDS stigma should be investigated to effectively reduce HIV/AIDS stigmas. However, little is known about religion as a cultural factor in the construction of HIV/AIDS stigma in Sub-Saharan Africa. NGOs and FBOs have played a significant role in the work of the HIV/AIDS intervention and prevention in the area. However, in spite of the importance of religion and spirituality among the front-line workers at non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and faith-based organizations (FBOs) in Sub-Saharan Africa, religiosity, and spirituality in relation to the construction of HIV/AIDS stigma have not been fully investigated yet.

Purpose: The aims of this study were to explore how service providers working with HIV/AIDS affected populations understand the meaning of HIV/AIDS stigma in relation to their religious beliefs, and to explore the role of religiosity and spirituality among service providers working in NGOs and FBOs in southern Malawi.

Method: A qualitative approach using the Internet via online Google forms and emails was used to collect the questionnaires and narrative data from Malawi. Study participants included twenty service providers working in thirteen NGOs or FBOs in southern Malawi. Fourteen participants were Malawians; six were from abroad, including Australia, Canada, Dutch, South Korea, Zimbabwe, and England. All participants are self-identified Christians. The qualitative data was analyzed using ATLAS.ti (version 8.0), and the quantitative data were analyzed by STATA (version 14.2).

Results: The findings of the study showed that social stigma and social constructionism were theories relevant to exploring HIV/AIDS stigma as a social construct in the Sub-Saharan context. Service providers participating in the study variously understood HIV/AIDS as a punishment of God, a consequence of sin in the fallen world, a result of human behavior, an opportunity to help PLWHA (People Living With HIV/AIDS), and as a medical disease. The participants described religiosity and spirituality as important health assets that support them in working with PLWHA in NGOs and FBOs in Malawi.

Conclusion: Religion serves as an important cultural influence, with power to both negatively affect the construction of HIV/AIDS stigma in society, and positively reconstruct the meaning of HIV/AIDS. The findings of the study suggest that it is critical to deconstruct and reconstruct the meaning of HIV/AIDS by focusing on religion as the means of grace and love, not of morality. Service providers must be required to carefully examine their own prejudice toward PLWHA, and social work education can equip HIV/AIDS specialists to more effectively deal with HIV/AIDS-related problems at the local, national, and global levels in the field of international social work.

Microfinance is the number one buzz word in the development sphere nowadays. The basic idea of microfinance is to make financial services available for those excluded from the conventional banking system. By charging market price interest rates on the loans granted the business is meant to become sustainable and independent of fluctuations in cash flow from donor funding. The microfinance sector in Malawi is relatively young and still in the development phase. Since the majority of the charity organizations running microfinance projects in Malawi are originating from the Western world, the services these institutions offer are inherently affected by Western (Christian) banking culture. This paper investigates if this set up results in the exclusion of Malawi’s Muslim population due to the fact that Islamic law prohibits Muslims from charging or paying interest on loans. The conclusions of this thesis are that the Muslim population uses the microfinance services to the same extent as their Christian brethren. However, a large proportion of the Muslim clientele feel that they are morally prohibited from using the microfinance services because of the interest rate charged. They only make use of the interest-based loans because they have no other option, and would thereby prefer services compatible with Islamic law. My recommendation is for the microfinance institutions to embrace this knowledge and further investigate the need of Islamic microfinance, and the possibility to implement it, before the consequences becomes more than a moral issue.

Nyau Masquerades have been studied by missionaries, anthropologists and religious specialists, but have seldom been documented by theatre and performance specialists. This dissertation argues for the acceptance of Ny au performance as a contemporary world theatre form rooted in tradition. Charting the uneasy relationship between the Nyau and those who have sought to record their performances, the author delineates a vivid dramaturgy of this art form. In doing so, the boundaries of what define theatre as it has traditionally been understood in dominant discourses are made more fluid. Nyau performances have been affected by Colonial processes in varied ways. They were banned by the former government of Northern Rhodesia and severely censored by Catholic Mission teachings in the former Nyasaland. Other forms of vilification have been more subtle. Information about performance in Africa has often been collected and arranged in ways which limit the understanding of these genres. Images of Africa which cluster around the notion of the 'Primitive Other' have enabled a representation of Ny au masking as a superstitious and outdated practice with no relevance for contemporary Africa. This work calls for a new examination of the Nyau, through the lens of local discourse as well as contemporary global understandings of performance. Chapter One examines the issue of primitivism and the ways in which Africa has historically been posited as the exotic Other to Europe. Chapter Two examines the Nyau ih terms of specific dramaturgical elements, adjusting previous misconceptions surrounding the theatr~ forms of Chewa and Nyanja people. Chapter Three is devoted to a discussion of space in ritual theatre and Nyau performance, while Chapter Four explores masking and questions of transformation and liminality. In conclusion, it is seen that the use of the mask is a metaphor for the suspension of rigid boundaries separating subject/object, self/other, ritual/theatre, a suspension which needs to take place before an enriched understanding of performance in Africa can be reached.

In this dissertation we attempt to assess Booth's life and thought and the influence he exerted in the religious and political history of Central and Southern Africa. Since 1958, when George Shepperson and Thomas Price brought Joseph Booth to the attention of the academic world for the first time, controversy about Booth has continued but there has not yet appeared a major study of his life. This research work is designed to fill this gap, at least partially. The thesis we wish to assert is that although Booth was often deeply involved in doctrinal issues relating to missions, the Sabbath and, to a lesser degree, the millennium, it was 'Africa for the African' that was constantly the centre of his attention to the end of his life. Indeed this theme of 'Africa for the Africans' undergirded virtually all his religious and political activities. This belief was grounded in his simple faith as to what was the clear message of the Bible about justice. Starting with the historical context, Chapter I deals briefly with the state and development of religion and politics in South Africa and British Central Africa (Malawi) in the 1890s. The purpose is to examine the socio-political setting which helped to shape Booth's missionary work. Chapter II sketches his life and career to provide a general background to the study of the major themes in his religious and political thought. Chapters III and IV examine in detail his fundamental religious views. It appears that in this area, Booth's approach to Scripture and its interpretation was very close to that of the sixteenth century radicals, the Anabaptists. Chapter V traces the emergence of Watch Tower Millenarianism in Central and South Africa. This section demonstrates that although Booth cannot be seen as a direct founder of the sect, his role nonetheless was not without significance. The men who took the central stage in the development of the movement were a number of his protéé, particularly Elliot Kamwana through whom an African version of the Watch Tower teaching spread in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In Chapters VI and VII, an attempt is made to describe and analyze his 'Africa for the African' doctrine and show it as a precursor of modern Black Theology of Liberation. The slogan 'Africa for the African' is again assessed to show Booth's role in relation to African nationalism. This dissertation concludes with a case study regarding Booth and the MI5 and the implications that resulted from his pro-Africanstance, especially as it related to the Defence of the Realm Act 1914, Regulation 14B. The interest taken in him by the British security authorities, together with Booth's advancing years, rapidly curtailed his activities. This did not come, however, before Booth had left a permanent mark on the religious and political history of South and Central Africa.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2015.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Central African country of Malawi has a population of over 15 million people and more than 500 Protestant missionaries. In spite of an overall sense of partnership and community among missionaries in Malawi, a significant tension exists between the approaches that various Protestant missionaries have taken in their attempt fulfil The Great Commission of Matthew 28. This tension is not limited to Malawi. Missiologists worldwide have identified several different models of mission work. Some of these models emphasize the verbal proclamation of the gospel message while other models emphasize social action and acts of mercy as an equal or primary focus. The purpose of this dissertation is to determine what the dominant models of mission work in Malawi are in practice. Is the emphasis more on gospel proclamation or social action and how does that relate to the commission in Matthew 28? In order to determine this, the researcher 1) investigates the growing tension between various models of missionary work, 2) analyzes various Protestant missionary models as they relate to key passages of Scripture, 3) examines qualitative theological perspectives surrounding the issue of evangelism, social action, Matthew 25, and Matthew 28, 4) conducts empirical quantitative research among missionaries currently serving in Malawi, 5) conducts empirical qualitative research among Christians in the West that have an interest in Malawi’s missionary work, 6) explores normative perceptions of the traditional prioritism model of missionary work, 7) develops a revised praxis for churches in the West that send missionaries to help them become more effective in developing their models of mission. Traditionally, missionaries have focused on gospel proclamation and social action has been a secondary, but important, emphasis. Today, some missionaries elevate social action as a co-priority with proclamation while others practice social action almost exclusively. Many missionaries in Malawi are so focused on social action activities like medicine, general education, and orphan care that they have little time to devote to Bible teaching, baptism, and church strengthening. Christians in the West who have an interest in missionary work in Malawi are naturally concerned about both gospel proclamation and social action. They desire that the physical needs of Malawians would not be neglected, but they also desire that the gospel message would be proclaimed in Malawi and that missionaries would make disciples by teaching all that Christ has commanded. This is why a research project that involves a theological study in relation to an analysis of the praxis of religious workers in Malawi will be useful. It should help both Christians in the West and missionaries in Malawi to maintain priorities that will sustain both gospel proclamation as well as social action in a needy country like Malawi. One of the desired outcomes of this study is to determine the factors that contribute to missionary activity which neglects neither gospel proclamation, nor the physical needs of others. In order to determine these factors, it will be beneficial to ascertain a more thorough understanding of different missionary models and evaluate their potential deficiencies and strengths. The main research question this study addresses is: What are the current models of missionary practice among missionaries in Malawi today and how do those models relate to key passages for missionaries, such as Matthew 28:18-20 and Matthew 25:31-46?
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Malawi, 'n land in sentraal Afrika, het 'n bevolking van meer as 15 miljoen mense en meer as 500 Protestantse sendelinge. Alhoewel daar goeie samewerking tussen Sending-organisasies is, ervaar hulle wel spanning rakende hulle onderskeie benaderings tot die Evangelisasie opdrag van Mattheus 28. Hierdie spanning is nie beperk tot Malawi nie. Wereldwyd het Sendingkundiges verskillende modelle vir sendingwerk geïdentifiseer. Van hierdie modelle beklemtoon die verkondiging van die Evangelie, terwyl ander die sosiale uitleef van die Evangelie verkondig deur middel van barmhartigheid. Die doel van hierdie proefskrif is om te bepaal wat die dominante modelle van sendingwerk in Malawi in die praktyk is. Is die klem meer op Evangelie verkondiging of op sosiale aksie, en hoe hou hierdie verband met die opdrag in Mattheus 28? Om hierdie vas te stel, gaan die navorser, 1) die toenemende spanning tussen verskillende modelle van sendingwerk ondersoek, 2) die verskillende Protestantse sending-modelle ontleed volgens hulle verwantskap aan kern gedeeltes van die Skrif, 3) empiriese kwantitatiewe navorsing doen onder huidige sendelinge in Malawi, 4) empiriese kwalitatiewe navorsing doen onder Christene in die Westerse wereld wat belangstel in sendingswerk in Malawi, 5) normatiewe begrip van die tradisionele voorkeur model van sendingwerk verken, 6) verbeterde praktyke ontwikkel wat kerke in die Weste, wat sendelinge wil uitstuur, kan navolg om hulle te help met die ontwikkeling van hulle sending-modelle. Tradisioneel het sendelinge op Evangelie-verkondiging gefokus en enige sosiale aksies was wel belangrik, maar van sekondêre belang. Vandag het sommige sendelinge sosiale aksies verhef tot 'n mede prioriteit gelyk aan Evangelieverkondiging, terwyl ander amper eksklusief sosiale aksies bedryf. Vele sendelinge in Malawi is so gefokus op sosiale aksie soos mediese hulp, algemene onderwys, en die versorging vir weeskinders, dat hulle min tyd het om hulself toe te wy aan Bybelse onderrig, doop en die versterking van kerke. Christene in die Weste, wat belangstel in sendingwerk in Malawi, is van nature besorg oor beide Evangelie verkondiging sowel as sosiale aksies. Hulle wil graag hê dat die fisiese behoeftes van Malawiers nie verwaarloos word nie, maar hulle begeer ook dat die Evangelie boodskap in Malawi verkondig word en dat sendelinge dissipels sal maak deur hulle alles wat Christus beveel het, te leer. Dit is die rede waarom dit nuttig sal wees om 'n navorsingsprojek te hê wat 'n teologiese studie insluit rakende 'n ontleding van die gebruike van godsdienstige werkers in Malawi. Dit behoort Christene in die Weste sowel as sendelinge in Malawi te help om prioriteite te handhaaf wat beide Evangelie verkondiging sowel as sosiale aksies ondersteun in 'n behoeftige land soos Malawi. Een van die verlangde resultate van hierdie studie is om die faktore te bepaal wat bydra tot sendingwerk wat nie Evangelie verkondiging verwaarloos nie en ook nie die fisiese behoeftes van ander verontagsaam nie. Om hierdie faktore te bepaal sal dit waardevol wees om 'n deegliker begrip van verskillende sending-modelle vas te stel en hulle potensiele tekortkominge en sterkpunte te evalueer. Die hoof navorsings-vra wat hierdie studie aanspreek is: Wat is die huidige modelle van sendingpraktyk onder sendelinge in Malawi en hoe hou dit verband met kern Skrifgedeeltes vir sendelinge soos Mattheus 28:18-20 en Mattheus 25:31-46?

Cette thèse se propose d’étudier les récits de fiction de la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle qui illustrent l’idée selon laquelle la « maladie est l’état naturel du chrétien ». Les affinités électives entre religion et pathologie intéressent à la fois les auteurs réalistes et naturalistes (Émile Zola, les Goncourt, Alphonse Daudet, etc.) qui envisagent la croyance dans une perspective polémique de démystification, voire de médicalisation ; et les écrivains catholiques (Barbey d’Aurevilly, Léon Bloy, J.-K. Huysmans, Émile Baumann) qui remotivent le sens spirituel des afflictions physiques. La mise en regard d’œuvres rassemblées autour d’une unité thématique – le spectacle d’un croyant malade – mais relevant d’esthétiques et de courants de pensée dissemblables permet d’étudier la manière dont la représentation littéraire cristallise les débats de l’époque au sujet du christianisme, tout en faisant émerger des problématiques communes à des auteurs que la critique a coutume d’envisager sous l’angle restrictif de leurs oppositions. Il s’agit de mettre en lumière les relations d’influences réciproques entre des écrivains qui, par-delà leurs divergences, fondent leur représentation du religieux sur un même imaginaire pathologique et sur une même poétique de l’incarnation. Ce travail entend montrer comment le renouvellement du sentiment religieux – que ce soit dans une perspective apologétique ou au contraire critique – passe par une écriture du corps souffrant, malade ou en proie à des troubles psychophysiologiques mystérieux. Ce dernier est le lieu et l’enjeu d’une réflexion sur la foi, sur le système de pensées et de croyances du christianisme et sur les institutions ecclésiastiques
This dissertation analyzes fictions that, in the second half of the 19th century, illustrate the idea that "sickness is the natural state of a Christian". The elective affinities between religion and pathology interest both realist or naturalistic novelists (such as Émile Zola, the Goncourts, Alphonse Daudet, etc.), whose polemical view aims at demystifying or even medicalizing beliefs, as well as catholic writers (Barbey d’Aurevilly, Léon Bloy, J.-K. Huysmans, Émile Baumann), who emphasize the spiritual meaning of physical afflictions. The parallel between fictions that are all based on the spectacle of a sick believer, but engage contrasting writing styles and currents of thought, shows how much literature crystallises the debate that is going on at the time about Christianism. It also uncovers a point of commonality between writers that critics are used to consider under the restrictive perspective of their opposition. This study aims to highlight the mutual influences that link together several writers who, beyond their differences, base their representation of religious feelings on the same pathological imaginary and the same poetics of incarnation. We argue that the renewal of religious feelings, whether it's in an apologetical or critical perspective, relies on the description of a body which suffers pain, sickness or mysterious psychophysiological disorders. Ultimately, the body conveys considerations about faith, Christian ideology and beliefs and ecclesiastic institutions

En partant d’une description des nombreux changements de la pratique médicale depuis quelques décennies, la thèse étudie divers aspects constitutifs du malaise du médecin. L’accroissement de la puissance médicale qu’a permis la technoscience est analysée et remise dans un contexte plus large où les technologies de l’information ont une grande place. L’augmentation considérable des connaissances pose un problème de maîtrise de la science médicale. La multiplicité des observations fait qu’il y a discordance de certaines d’entre elles avec les théories médicales largement acceptées. De cette manière, le gain d’efficacité est associé à une perte de la cohérence du discours médical. Le rôle du médecin disparaît derrière la technique, qui semble pouvoir, seule, rendre tous les progrès accessibles. Le médecin devient alors un simple distributeur de services et, à ce titre, développe parfois des offres de pratiques sans fondement, voire dangereuses.

Le pouvoir du médecin est évoqué, et se ramène in fine à la fourniture d’un diagnostic et d’une explication de sa maladie au patient. Le rôle des explications particulières que donne le médecin au malade est exploré à la lumière d’une conception narrative et évolutive de la vie humaine. Le rôle du médecin apparaît alors comme d’aider le patient à réécrire a posteriori le fil d’une histoire qui apparaît initialement comme interrompue par la maladie.

Le rôle social de maintien de l’ordre de la pratique médicale est alors évoqué. Ensuite, par une approche descriptive du phénomène religieux, on montre que la médecine du XXIe siècle a les caractéristiques d’un tel phénomène. Entités extrahumaines, mythes, rites, tabous, prétention à bâtir une morale, accompagnement de la vie et de la mort, miracles, promesse de salut, temples, officiants sont identifiés dans la médecine « classique » contemporaine. Seule la fonction de divination de l’avenir d’un homme précis est devenue brumeuse, la technoscience permettant régulièrement du « tout ou rien » là où auparavant un pronostic précis (et souvent défavorable) pouvait être affirmé.

L’hypothèse que la médecine est devenue une religion du XXIe siècle est confrontée à des textes de S. Freud, M. Gauchet et P. Boyer. Non seulement ces textes n’invalident pas l’hypothèse, mais la renforcent même. Il apparaît que le fonctionnement de l’esprit humain favorise l’éclosion de religions et donc la prise de voile de la médecine. La dynamique générale de la démocratisation de la société montre que la médecine est une forme de religion non seulement compatible avec une société démocratique, mais est peut-être une des formes accomplies de celle-ci, où chaque individu écrit lui-même sa propre histoire.

Le danger qu’il y a, pour le patient comme pour le médecin, si ce dernier accepte de jouer un rôle de prêtre, est ensuite développé. Enfin, la remise dans le cadre plus général de l’existence humaine, l’évocation de la dimension de révolte de la médecine, de son essentielle incomplétude, l’acceptation d’une cohérence imparfaite permettent au médecin de retrouver des sources de joie afin de, peut-être, ne tomber ni dans un désinvestissement blasé, ni dans un cynisme blessant.

From a description of the many changes medical practice has undergone for a few decades, the work goes on to study many sides of the modern doctor’s malaise. The gain of power made possible by technoscience is put on a larger stage where information technologies play a major role. The abundance of knowledge makes health literacy more difficult. the great number of observations makes discrepancies with general theories more frequent. The gain in power is associated with a loss of coherence of the medical speech. The doctor’s role vanishes behind technology that seems to be the only access to all medical progresses. Doctors becomes mere service providers and go on to offer unvalidated or even harmful services on the market.

Modern medical power resumes into the explanations and diagnosis given to the patient. The role of medical explanations is explored through an evolutive and narrative vision of human life. The duty of the doctors then appears to allow a new narration of the self that bridges the gap disease introduced into the patient’s life.

The role of medicine in maintaining social order is mentioned. Through a sociological approach of the religious phenomenon, one can see that XXIst century medicine is such a phenomenon. Medicine knows of extrahuman entities, myths, rites, taboos, miracles, temples; priests are present in modern mainstream medicine. Some want to derive objective moral values from medicine, and it brings companionship to man from birth to death. The only departure from old religions was the weakened ability to predict the future of an individual patient: for some diseases for which survival was known to be very poor, the possibilities are now long-term survival with cure, or early death from the treatment.

The hypothesis that medicine is a religion is confronted to texts from Freud S. Gauchet M. and Boyer P. Not only do they not invalidate the hypothesis, but they bring enrichment to it. Brain/mind dynamics is such that the appearance of religions is frequent, and makes the transformation of medicine into a religion easier. Society’s democratisation confronted to religion’s history shows that medicine is the most compatible form of religion within a truly democratic society, where each individual writes his own story.

To become a priest brings some dangers for the patient, but also for the doctor. These dangers are discussed. This discussion is put into the larger context of human life. The revolt dimension of medicine is discussed, as is its never-ending task. Their acceptance, as that of a lack of total logical coherence can open the possibility for the doctor to enjoy his work, without being neither unfeeling nor cynical.

Doctorat en philosophie et lettres, Orientation bioéthique
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This thesis provided a systematic comparison of Religious Education (RE) as it has evolved in the secondary school curriculum of Scotland and Malawi, between 1970 and the present day (2010). It sought to draw analogies and, where valid, to indicate significant points of difference regarding key issues that underpin this development between two countries that also have a historical relationship dating back to 1859. This was a qualitative study which used the phenomenological research method. In both countries data was collected through field-based research using key informant interviews (n60), relevant documents and school surveys. The conceptual framework of the thesis was based on concepts and issues in the discourse of contemporary RE. The constant comparison strategy of data analysis was implemented in exploring issues that emerged in the research. To further facilitate the analysis of secondary school RE in Scotland and Malawi a thematic approach was adopted in which six key issues were identified and investigated. The first explored the historical problem of underdevelopment in RE. The second examined motives that engendered reforms in the RE curriculum. The third described the various curriculum changes in RE during the period under study. The fourth discussed contested spaces related to the micro-politics of RE. The fifth surveyed the level of provision in RE in different school contexts. The sixth and last assessed the current state of RE. The findings of this study suggested that despite some points of difference, there was greater similarity on salient issues that underpinned the nature of secondary school RE in the two countries, in areas such as the need for curriculum reform, micro-politics of reform, provision in schools and status of the subject. Given the challenges the subject faces in both Scotland and Malawi, the study concluded that without government intervention and support from other key stakeholders RE will continue to be regarded as a marginal curriculum subject.

La Malaisie, fédération aux multiples contrastes, était lors de son indépendance en 1957 à la recherche d'une cohérence interne et d'une visibilité internationale. L'existence d'un compromis constitutionnel entre ses communautés ethnolinguistiques, favorable aux Malais musulmans et majoritaires, lui a procuré la possibilité de satisfaire à cette double exigence en favorisant l'établissement d'un équilibre institutionnel viable. De même, sa fuite en avant dans le développement économique lui a permis de préserver dans la durée son unité de tensions centrifuges mortifères. Cependant l'islam a également contribué dans une certaine mesure à cette situation en jouant un rôle central dans le processus de construction nationale, malgré la nature éminemment plurielle de la société malaisienne où près de la moitié de la population n'est pas de confession musulmane. Il a aussi conféré aux dirigeants du pays un moyen d'assumer quelques prétentions extérieures. Pour différentes raisons, il s'est imposé progressivement comme une matrice identitaire, politique et socioculturelle, jusqu'à devenir en s'autonomisant un profond facteur de divisions ou un enjeu de rivalités. L'analyse des dynamiques du phénomène islamique malaisien, à la lumière de plusieurs disciplines académiques, souligne son caractère structurant de diverses aspirations et ses points de clivages. Loin de former une variable homogène dans l'émergence d'un alliage post-colonial stable en Malaisie, il a de nombreuses implications dans le champ public relevant de dimensions distinctes, mais néanmoins liées et croisées. Ces dernières peuvent être appréhendées ou mesurées dans leur complexité sous l'angle d'une sociologie historique de leurs logiques et de leurs acteurs. Cette approche est ainsi une opportunité de réfléchir sur les fondements originaux du modèle de formation d'un Etat multiculturel aux éléments constitutifs singuliers, et dont les ressorts montrent des limites riches en enseignements.

Dans le contexte religieux, une personne est possédée par une force extérieure. La personne n’est plus alors propriétaire d’elle-même. Une dizaine de caractères, mots ou termes constituant le champ lexical de la possession est examinée à partir de leurs sens originaux et de leurs évolutions dans leurs propres contextes. Ces caractères, mots ou termes nous donnent une vision globale de la manière dont les gens de l’époque percevaient le phénomène de la possession et comment ils le décrivaient. La possession démoniaque est à cette époque considérée comme la cause principale des maladies. La technique exorciste des maîtres indigènes consiste en mouvements corporels auxquels s’ajoutent des éléments auxiliaires comme le talisman qui sont des éléments explicatifs par rapport aux mouvements. Le bouddhisme apporte en Chine sa propre technique exorciste : l’incantation. En tant que mode d’interactions entre humains et divinités, la voyance de fantômes, le rêve, la rencontre amoureuse entre un homme et un esprit, les chansons d’enfants et le contact émotif divin sont des phénomènes courants que l’on rencontre souvent dans des textes de l’époque des Six dynasties et qui sont liés à la possession. Ces phénomènes partagent des conceptions fondamentales avec la possession et construisent la base de la religion chinoise. La possession s’explique par une séparation entre l’esprit et le corps. Pourtant dans cette conception dichotomique, les deux termes ne sont pas « opposés ». Ils coexistent dans un symbiotique système. Autrement dit, dans la religion du Haut Moyen-âge chinois, l’unité l’emporte sur la séparation, et c’est dans l’unité que chaque partie trouve sa raison d’être
Possession represents a wider range of ideas and practices than a separate "religion" referred to by the category of mediumnism. Chapter One identifies ten key terms which provide us with an overview of how people of that time perceived the phenomenon of possession, how they described it and which aspect of the phenomenon they wanted to emphasize. Chapter Two moves to how religious specialists dealt with possession. Demonic possession was considered the main cause of disease. The exorcistic techniques of Chinese native masters, including mediums, masters of recipes and Taoist masters, consist of body movements, meat to expel demons and heal patients. There are also auxiliary elements such as speech acts or talismans which are explanatory factors for specific movements. Buddhism brought to China its own exorcistic approach, with the incantation. As a pattern of interactions between gods and human beings, the possession helps to understand others patterns of the same kind. Seeing ghosts, dreams, amorous encounters between a man and a spirit, children's songs and divine emotional contacts are common themes in the texts of the Six Dynasties and are often linked to the possession. Chapter Three shows how these phenomena shared with the possession fundamental conceptions which constituted the fundamentals of Chinese religion. The conception behind the possession is about the separation of soul and body. However such dichotomous thinking does not mean that the two elements are opposite. They coexist in a symbiotic system. In other words, in Medieval Chinese religion, unity prevails over separation, and it is in this unity that each element finds its raison d'être

Depuis le Moyen Âge, l’intérêt philosophique pour le péché originel, la chute d’Ève et d’Adam, ainsi que le châtiment divin, a produit de nombreuses interprétations du récit de la Genèse. La question la plus importante était celle de comprendre la responsabilité de l’homme dans le mal et de disculper Dieu. Comment un Dieu tout puissant et tout bon pourrait-il accepter que ses créatures tombent dans l’abîme du péché ? Contrairement à ce qu’on pourrait s’attendre, cet intérêt ne perd pas en vigueur au début de la Renaissance : il se voit même renforcer à travers les divergences naissantes de la Réforme. C’est pourquoi il est intéressant d’interroger la pensée de Montaigne et de Descartes, deux penseurs à première vue sans rapport avec une quelconque controverse religieuse (ou en tout cas officiellement non engagés dans des débats de nature théologique). Considèrent-ils le péché dans sa compréhension théologique et religieuse ? Ou le concept de péché se présente-t-il sous une nouvelle forme, qu’on pourrait alors appeler humaniste ou encore naturaliste ? Ni Montaigne ni Descartes n’emploient le terme de péché originel, ce qui marque leur originalité par rapport aux autres penseurs de leurs époques. L’intérêt est donc de savoir si l’absence de ce terme signifie un désintérêt pour la religion chrétienne dans leurs morales, ou si elle marque le début d’une pensée qui essaie de donner une interprétation laïque et sécularisant du mal et du péché. Montaigne et Descartes séparent-ils leurs morales avec la tradition chrétienne ?
Since the Middle Ages, philosophers’ interest in the original sin, in the fall of Eve and Adam and in divine retribution has produced many interpretations of Genesis. The most important question was to understand the responsibility of man in evil and to exculpate God. How could almighty and merciful God accept that his creatures fall into the abyss of sin? Contrary to what one might expect, this interest does not lose its force at the beginning of the Renaissance: it is even strengthened through the emerging differences of the Reformation. This is why it is interesting to analyze the thought of Montaigne and Descartes, two thinkers who seem at first sight unrelated to any religious controversy (or, at least, officially non-engaged in debates of a theological nature). Do they consider sin in his theological and religious understanding? Or, does the concept of sin face a new form of understanding which could then be called humanist or naturalist? Neither Montaigne nor Descartes uses the term original sin, a choice which marks their originality compared to other thinkers of their times. Therefore, we must examine if the absence of this term means a disinterest in the Christian religion in their morals, or if it marks the beginning of a thought which tries to propose a laic and secularized interpretation of the evil and the sin. Do Montaigne and Descartes distance their moral thoughts from the Christian tradition?

Thesis (DTh (Practical Theology and Missiology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2004.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation aimed to ascertain, in a practical theological way, how to bridge the gulf between the congregation and the AIDS community using home based care as the vehicle of change. The initial hypotheses of the research were based upon a model initially developed by World Vision in Nkhotakota, Malawi. The research question, which the study address, is as follows: 1. Can the negative attitudes, prejudices and behaviours which are held and demonstrated by many in the church towards those suffering with HIV/AIDS, be changed by using deliberate attempts to alter their perspective of this pandemic by providing accurate information, in juxtaposition with the demonstration of Christ’s love and compassion to this community? 2. In conjunction to this first question comes a second: Can the compassionate outreach of the church, as it follows Christ’s mandate to love change the perspective of those in the HIV/AIDS community so that instead of viewing the church (as a whole) as cold and unloving, their perception will change with the demonstration of such love and compassion by its membership that they begin to see the church as a source of hope and love? To describe the contextual situation in which this study takes place, the historical background concerning the church’s response to the issue of the HIV/AIDS pandemic was explored in chapter two. The third chapter discusses the cultural paradigmatic focuses, unique to the African situation, with attention to the role in the church as it seeks to comply with its mandated mission. Chapter four then examines the cultural practices found, specifically in the Malawian context, that promote the spread and transmission of the HIV/AIDS virus amongst the Chewa people and the surrounding tribes. Over and against the identified traditional practices and their interrelationship with the worldviews of the people of Malawi, chapter five focuses on the practical theological implications of the church seeing to find identity in Christ. The ramifications of the praxis process regarding this hermeneutic, in consideration with the response of the Church as it seeks to reflect the character of the God, as represented primarily by the attribute of love towards those who are suffering from being infected or affected by this disease are explored in this chapter. It deals with the theological ramifications concerning the faith community as it represents the body of Christ by providing eschatological hope to this suffering world. The remaining chapters describe the methodology and praxis process utilizing the research hypothesis developed from the Nkhotakota model. Final conclusions were then drawn in order to provide understanding as to how to obediently participate in God’s witness to the world as the faith community addresses the problem of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in very poor areas in Malawi. Although the initial optimistic goals of this research were not met as anticipated, essential discoveries that illuminate the faulty paradigms associated with critical issues such as the effects of abject poverty were exposed. Difficulties that were initially considered secondary to the main thrust of this research, whose complexities are generally misunderstood by the western paradigm came to light as the praxis process unfolded. Attempts to sidestep stark issues such as poverty, in order to address the ‘real’ issues under study served to highlight these problems as their magnitude forced their recognition and consideration. This research has exposed is the necessity for further exploration into the intricate ramifications of issues such poverty by demonstrating the unfortunate fact that for those struggling to survive at the lowest levels of Maslow’s hierarchy, the luxury of benevolent service is simply not possible. For these, there is no other issue but survival. Calling on these sufferers to act as ‘the church’ when their need is so dire is not only unrealistic, it borders on sacrilege.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis beoog om op ‘n prakties-teologiese wyse vas te stel hoe om die kloof tussen ‘n gemeente en ‘n Vigs-gemeenskap te oorbrug met tuisversorging as medium van verandering. Die aanvanklike hipoteses van die navorsing is gebaseer op ‘n model wat oorspronklik deur World Vision by Nkhotakota, Malawi, ontwikkel is. Die navorsingsvraag waarop dié studie gerig word, is die volgende: 1. Kan die negatiewe houding, vooroordele en optrede van baie kerklidmate teenoor MIV/Viglyers verander word deur die gebruik van doelgerigte pogings om hul siening van hierdie pandemie te wysig deur die verskaffing van die korrekte inligting, tesame met blyke van Christus se liefde en medelye aan hierdie gemeenskap? 2. Tesame met hierdie eerste vraag, volg ‘n tweede. Kan die kerk se deernisvolle uitreik, met die betoning en uitvoer van Christus se opdrag om liefde te gee, die siening van mense in die MIV/Vigs gemeenskap só wysig dat, in plaas dat hulle die kerk (as ‘n geheel) ervaar as koud en liefdeloos, hulle hierdie begrip wysig deur die lidmate se betoning van dié liefde en deernis, dat hulle begin om die kerk te beskou as ‘n bron van hoop en liefde? Die beskrywing van die kontekstuele situasie waarin hierdie studie plaasvind, sowel as die historiese agtergrond ten opsigte van die kerk se respons tot die vraagstuk van die MIV/Vigs pandemie, is in hoofstuk twee ondersoek. Die derde hoofstuk bespreek die kulturele paradigmatiese fokusse, uniek aan toestande in Afrika. Dit gee aandag aan die rol van die kerk in sy doelwit om sy sendingmandaat uit te voer. Hoofstuk vier ondersoek die kulturele praktyke wat, spesifiek in die Malawiese konteks, die verspreiding en transmissie van die MIV/Vigs virus onder die Chewa bevolking en omliggende stamme bevorder. Bo en behalwe die geïdentifiseerde tradisionele praktyke en hul betrekking op die Malawiërs se lewens- en wêreldbeskouing, fokus hoofstuk vyf op die prakties-teologiese implikasies van die liefdesgebod. Die uitgangspunt van die hoofstuk is dat die kerk in haar uitreik tot hulle wat ly, iets van die (liefde) karakter van God moet weerspieël. Die praxis proses het dus liefde as hermeneutiese sleutel. Teologies gesproke moet die geloofsgemeenskap, as die liggaam van Christus, eskatologies hoop aan hierdie lydende wêreld verskaf. Die res van die hoofstukke beskryf die metodologie, proses en navorsingshipotese wat ontwikkel is uit die Nkhotakota model. Die finale gevolgtrekkings spreek die probleem aan van hoe om die MIV/Vigs pandemie onder mense wat in uiters arm stedelike areas in Malawi woon, aan te spreek en ‘n Christelike getuienis te lewer. Al is die aanvanklike optimistiese doelwitte van hierdie navorsing deels bereik, is wesenlike ontdekkings gemaak wat die foutiewe paradigmas in verband met kritieke vraagstukke, soos die invloed van volslae armoede, blootgelê. Probleme wat aanvanklik sekondêr beskou is tot die hoofmikpunt van die navorsing het aan die lig gekom in die navorsingsproses. Dit was duidelik dat die ingrype in die gemeenskap die vervreemding tussen die kerk en vigslyers positief verander het. Veel meer waardering en aanvaarding het ontwikkel. Maar: die kompleksiteit van die probleem word in die algemeen deur die westerse paradigma oppervlakkig verstaan. Die navorsing het bepaalde implikasies van armoede en blootgelê. Vir mense wat op die laagste vlakke van Maslow se behoeftes-rangorde ‘n stryd het om te bestaan, is die luukse van vrywillige diens aan ander eenvoudig nie moontlik nie. Vir hulle is een saak oorheersend: oorlewing. Om vanuit ‘n lewe vol sekuriteite hierdie armes op te roep om op te tree as onbetaalde dienswerkers, terwyl hul eie nood so groot is, is nie net onrealisties nie, maar ongevoelig.

Cette thèse amorce une réflexion approfondie sur les représentations populaires de la maladie et du pluralisme thérapeutique eu égard à la tradition, la religion et aux spécificités sociologiques de la société sénégalaise. Sa singularité repose sur le fait de mettre en exergue les composantes sociales et culturelles à l’œuvre, dans la prise en charge de la maladie du paludisme dans la communauté wolof du Sénégal. Cette recherche analyse la maladie comme le révélateur d’une conflictualité sociale et des rapports sociaux complexes entre les individus, les familles, les thérapeutes, les ethnies, où dominent des idéologies et des manières d’agir à la fois opposées et complémentaires. C’est dans la conception que les communautés se font de la maladie, que réside l’explication de la fusion culturelle qui est au firmament de la société et de l’humain, qui est perçu ici comme étant un complexe triadique fait de l’esprit, de l’âme et du corps
This thesis begins a reflection on popular representations of disease and therapeutic pluralism with regard to tradition, religion and sociological specificities Senegalese society. Its uniqueness lies in the fact to highlight the social and cultural work in the management of malaria illness in the community Wolof of Senegal. This research analyzes the disease as the developer of a social conflict and complex social relationships between individuals, families, therapists, ethnicity, dominated ideologies and ways of acting both opposite and complementary. This is the design that communities are the disease, lies the explanation of cultural fusion is the firmament of human society and which is seen here as a triadic complex due to the spirit, soul and body

Thesis (MA (History))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010.
This study intends to investigate a facet of the race relations of the town of Stellenbosch within the context of state ideology and the reaction of the various local communities towards these policies. Against various internal and external forces, certain alliances were formed but these remained neither static nor constant. The external forces of particular concern within this study are the role of state legislation, Municipal regulations and political activism amongst the elite of the different racial groups. The manner in which the external forces both mould and are moulded by identity and the fluid nature of identifying with certain groups to achieve particular goals will also be investigated. This thesis uses the case study of the Muslim Communities of Stellenbosch to explain the practice of Islam in Stellenbosch, the way in which the religion co-existed within the structure of the town, how the religion influenced and was influenced by context and time and how the practitioners of this particular faith interacted not only amongst themselves but with other “citizens of Stellenbosch”. Fundamental to these trends is the concept of “belonging”. Group formation, affiliation, identity, shared heritage and history as well as racial classification – implemented and propagated by both political discourse and communal discourse - is located within the broader context of Cape history in order to discuss commonalities and contrasts that existed between Muslims at the Cape and those in Stellenbosch.

Après un historique du système de santé brésilien, des cultes afro-brésiliens et des africains au Brésil, le présent travail tente de montrer, d'un point de vue anthropologique, la cohérence du système de croyances de ces cultes et de quelques unes de leurs pratiques, entre autres thérapeutiques. L'étude porte alors essentiellement sur la cohérence des relations entre un orixa (entité divine) donné, la partie du corps humain qu'il est censé dominer et les vertus des plantes qui lui appartiennent. Sont également étudiées, sous leur aspect thérapeutique, les processus d'initiation et les transes.
D'un point de vue plus sociologique, cette étude s'intéresse au système sanitaire brésilien, ses évolutions, et pointe les défaillances du système officiel dans la gestion des soins offerte aux patients.
Analysant les parcours (possibles) du malade (brésilien), les techniques qu'il va choisir d'utiliser pour gérer ses problèmes de santé – en faisant appel ou non aux pratiques thérapeutiques du culte afro-brésilien, il apparaît finalement qu'outre le fait de pouvoir se présenter comme un système de soins complémentaire à la médecine officielle, les pratiques thérapeutiques développées par les garants de ce culte et de cette culture s'affichent souvent et de plus en plus comme une alternative, voire un palliatif efficace face à une gestion officielle de la santé souvent défaillante – où les rejetés de la médecine (par manque de moyens financiers permettant d'y accéder) côtoient les rejetants de cette médecine (qui craignent les infections nosocomiales et autres fonctionnements quotidiens mal assurés).

Les Filles de la Charité de Saint Vincent de Paul sont arrivées au Panama en 1875 comme des exilées politiques, après avoir été expulsées du Mexique par son gouvernement, dont le Congrès avait voté contre la présence de toutes les congrégations religieuses dans le pays l'année précédente. Cinq ans après leur installation dans l'isthme, la Compagnie Universelle du Canal Français - sous la direction de Ferdinand de Lesseps - a commencé les travaux de construction d'un canal qui permettrait la navigation entre les océans Atlantique et Pacifique. L'entreprise serait un échec irrémédiable pour une variété de raisons, parmi lesquelles la condition désastreuse de la santé publique, et le gouvernement des États-Unis reprendra le projet d'ingénierie colossale et l'assainissement du pays. Les Filles de la Charité, qui ont été engagées par la Compagnie Universelle du Canal comme infirmières pour soigner les patients dans leurs hôpitaux, resteraient dans l'isthme au long des années épidémiques et élargiraient leur mission dans la mesure où l'ordre religieux continue d'avoir une forte présence au sein de la société panaméenne à ce jour. Le but principal de ce travail est de analyser un épisode précédemment inconnu de l'histoire autrement bien documentée de la construction du Canal de Panama: la contribution que cette congrégation a fait à la profession naissante d’infirmière pendant les pires années de la propagation des maladies infectieuses dans l'isthme, provoquée par la surpopulation des ouvriers du canal et l'ignorance de la cause et le remède de maladies épidémiques. C’est bien connu que la construction du canal a été possible grâce à la lutte contre le paludisme et l'éradication de la fièvre jaune, les maladies qui ont décimé la population au cours des 25 premières années du projet ; que des changements radicaux dans les conditions de santé publique ont été accomplies par les mesures mises en œuvre par le médecin de l'armée américaine le colonel William Crawford Gorgas ; mais la présence des Filles de la Charité dans les hôpitaux publics et privés dans la ville de Panama et de Colón pendant ce temps, tendant aux patients et exécutant les ordres du Dr Gorgas, est resté caché pour la plupart des publications sur le sujet. Peut-être que la découverte la plus importante qui a surgi des sources recherchées pour ce travail, est que la troisième grande maladie infectieuse que les médecins et leurs assistants ont combattu au cours de ces années a été la syphilis, qui a atteint des proportions épidémiques et était incurable durant cette période aussi. Le conflit créé par les patients syphilitiques et le traitement dont ils avaient besoin et le fait qu'ils ont reçu efficacement ce traitement des sœurs, qui ont été interdites par les règles de leur propre congrégation d'avoir contact avec eux, a culminé par le retrait des religieuses des hôpitaux, et la sécularisation et la professionnalisation des soins infirmiers au Panama. Les raisons pour lesquelles les sœurs dispensaient des soins aux patients syphilitiques durant les trente-trois ans qu’ils ont servi dans les hôpitaux de la nation, malgré et contre leur propre règle, résident dans leur piété et leur spiritualité, dont les détails seront examinés tout au long de cette thèse. Les contradictions qui, apparemment, résident dans l'aide des sœurs, qui peuvent être perçues à tort comme l'ambiguïté morale, fournissent un sujet précieux d'étude pour l'histoire de la religion de la région. Il faut souligner qu'un facteur déterminant dans cet épisode était le manque de règles juridiques qui caractérisent la pratique de la médecine jusqu'à la deuxième décennie du 20e siècle dans le Nord et l'Amérique latine. Ainsi, cette étude peut également contribuer au débat contemporain très opportun sur l'éthique des professionnels de la santé, et sur l'effet que peut avoir leur empathie dans le traitement de la maladie d'un patient
The Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul arrived in Panama in 1875 as political exiles, after being expelled from Mexico by its Government, whose Congress had voted against the presence of all religious congregations in the country the previous year. Five years after their settling in the Isthmus, the Compagnie Universelle du Canal Français - under the direction of Ferdinand de Lesseps – began construction work for a canal that would allow navigation between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The enterprise would fail irretrievably for a variety of reasons, among them the disastrous condition of public health, and the United States Government would take over the colossal engineering project and the country’s sanitation. The Daughters of Charity, who were hired by the Compagnie Universelle to nurse patients in their hospitals, would remain in the Isthmus throughout the epidemic years and would expand their mission to the extent that the religious order continues to have a strong presence within Panamanian society to this day.The main purpose of this work is to disclose a previously unknown episode of the otherwise well documented history of the construction of the Panama Canal: the contribution that this congregation made to the incipient nursing profession during the worst years of the spread of infectious diseases in the Isthmus, provoked by the overcrowding of the canal workers, the backwardness of the region and the ignorance of the cause and cure of epidemic diseases. It is public knowledge that the construction of the canal was possible due to the control of malaria and the eradication of yellow fever, the illnesses that decimated the population during the first 25 years of the project; that radical changes in public health conditions were accomplished by the measures implemented by US Army doctor Colonel William Crawford Gorgas; but the presence of the Daughters of Charity in public and private hospitals in Panama City and Colón during this time, tending to patients and carrying out Dr Gorgas’ orders, has remained hidden for the most part from publications on the subject.Perhaps the most significant discovery surging from the sources researched for this work, is that the third great infectious disease that the doctors and their assistants fought during these years was syphilis, which reached epidemic proportions and was incurable during this period too. The conflict created by the syphilitic patients and the treatment they required and the fact that they effectively received this treatment from the sisters, who were forbidden by the rules of their own congregation to have contact with them, culminated by the withdrawal of the nuns from the hospitals, and the secularization and professionalization of nursing in Panama. The reasons why the sisters provided care to syphilitic patients during the thirty-three years they served in the nation’s hospitals, despite and against their own Rule, reside in their piety and their spirituality, details of which will be examined throughout this dissertation. The contradictions that seemingly dwelled in the sisters’ aid, which may be wrongly perceived as moral ambiguity, provide a valuable subject of study for the history of religion of the region.It must be stressed that a determining factor in this episode was the lack of legal regulations that characterized the practice of Medicine until the second decade of the 20th Century in North and Latin America. Thus, this study may also contribute to the very timely, contemporary debate on the ethics of health professionals, and on the effect that their empathy may have in the cure of a patient’s illness

Sub-Saharan African is experiencing major sociodemographic trends that include population aging, the proliferation of both Christianity and Islam, and the contribution of migration to the dynamics that exist between urban and rural areas. The need to better understand the health of older adults in a setting largely lacking the formal means to support them is essential. The purpose of this research is to examine various factors related to the health of older women and men in rural Malawi, using quantitative data from the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health (MLSFH). Analysis begins in the residential setting but extends to include social and religious spaces beyond the family, and how some of these factors influence the likelihood of migration for older respondents. The primary measures of health are the mental and physical health scores from the Short-Form 12 (SF-12). Overall, the findings of the three studies in this paper show that: (1) co-residence with offspring has a positive relationship with health for older women, while older men who live in a larger household or with a greater number of females have better health; (2) older adults affiliated with most Christian denominations are less healthy compared to Muslims; (3) participation in religious activities may be particularly important for the health of older women, especially at lower levels of wealth; and (4) the likelihood of migration for older women increases with age and with HIV-positive status, while for older men the likelihood of migration decreases with age but increases with physical health. Overall, these findings indicate that certain factors within and beyond the residential setting have an important relationship with health, and that these factors can serve as determinants of migration in older age in rural Malawi.
1
Jacob Evans Kendall

Qualitative and quantitative research designs were employed to assess the influence of religion on gender equality and women empowerment in Mulanje district in Malawi. Qualitative data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires through interview with 18 key informants who were sampled by judgmental sampling and 4 FGDs with men and women belonging to different religions who were sampled by stratified random sampling. Quantitative data was collected using a self administered questionnaire to 130 participants sampled by stratified random sampling. Quantitative data was analyzed by using SPSS computer program version 16.0 in order to reach to a valid conclusion. The analysis of the data involved descriptive statistics. For qualitative data, themes were induced from the interview with key informants and FGD. Findings have revealed positive religious teachings and beliefs that have empowered women and promoted equality between men and women. Nevertheless, the study has also revealed that discriminatory religious teachings and attitudes are a reality in religious institutions and these have influenced not only the way women are treated in religious institutions but also the way women look at themselves. In light of the findings, recommendations have been made to the government of Malawi, religious institutions, religious leaders and CSOs to take appropriate actions to promote gender equality and women empowerment in Mulanje district.
Development Studies
M.A. (Development Studies)

There are important disparities between how HIV transmission, prevention, and mitigation are addressed within sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and how they are understood by the international aid agencies that design and implement interventions to combat AIDS in this region. Contending that local responses to the AIDS epidemic hinge on a religious framework, this dissertation examines the relationship between religion and HIV risk at both the individual and collective levels in the setting of rural Malawi - a religiously diverse country with high levels of both religious participation and HIV prevalence. This dissertation advances the Durkheimian idea that participation in harmful behaviors is reduced in places where particular religions or religious rituals are widely practiced. Specifically, it addresses the associations between religion and (1) HIV prevention, (2) actual HIV status, and (3) perceived obligations to support families affected by AIDS. The relationships are assessed by employing multiple methodologies and data sources including participant observation data from religious services, in-depth interviews with religious leaders and lay people, and large-scale survey data. This dissertation provides the first empirical assessment of what religious leaders in SSA say and do about HIV in their communities and shows that many have assumed an activist role in combating the epidemic. The relevant practices religious leaders engage in include: preaching explicitly about AIDS on a regular basis, privately advising members to use condoms, actively policing the sexual behavior of their members -- visiting those suspected to be at risk of contracting the disease and to confront them about their sexual behavior, and advising divorce as a strategy for HIV prevention in cases where a member is likely to be infected by an unfaithful spouse. By synthesizing insights from demographic studies of contextual effects on sexual behavior with the notion of "moral communities" from the sociology of religion, this dissertation emphasizes the importance of conceptualizing religion as a supra-individual phenomenon with important implications for the health of populations.

This study is a critical exploration and analysis of the experiences of 'being church‘ for women married to pastors in the Baptist Convention of Malawi (BACOMA). The study focused on the following research question: 'What does being church mean for women who are married to pastors in the BACOMA, whose distinctive mark is freedom of choice in matters of faith and ministry according to the Baptist-held principle of the priesthood of all believers? It is a qualitative empirical study of the life experiences of pastors‘ wives which used feminist narrative methods of inquiry. In order to get a full picture of the role perceptions and experiences of pastors‘ wives, the study used in depth interviews, group discussions and participant observation. A purposely selected group of twenty-nine pastors‘ wives from BACOMA-affiliated Lilongwe Baptist Association of Malawi were individually interviewed by the author. In addition, two group discussions with members of the Lilongwe Baptist Association Pastors‘ Fraternal group (LBAPF) were conducted and fifty church members that included women, men, and young people were also interviewed in order to determine the congregational perceptions of a pastor‘s wife. The purpose of my study was to determine the ideo-theological and socio-cultural factors that contribute to the construction of the identity of a pastor‘s wife in the BACOMA. By presenting a synthesis of the various perspectives on the experiences of pastors‘ wives, this study has demonstrated that a plurality of perspectives contribute to the construction of the identity of a pastors‘ wife. This causes her to be identified as a "dialogical self"¹ because of the many positions that contribute to the self understanding of her identity. These perspectives, which are embedded in patriarchal ideologies, include: doctrinal or biblical, ecclesiastical, congregational, cultural, and the "Self". I have also shown that the areas of conflict and tension between the Self and the "others" can be clues towards transformation. This is in addition to the alternatives suggested by feminist theologians in the study. Baptist ecclesiology in Malawi is challenged to take cognisance of these factors in order to build an inclusive ecclesiology that affirms the humanity of women in general and pastors‘ wives in particular.
Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

Comment affronter la désolation de la lotte dans la maladie? Ce mémoire nous fait entrer dans l'univers de l'affrontement contre la maladie incurable. Quel malade atteint d'une maladie incurable ne glisse pas dans la situation d'une lutte sans prix contre la mort? Une question qui représente la désolante réalité des malades qui témoignent de leur mort absurde avant la mort, leur résignation à mourir. C'est dans ce «monde» des personnes atteintes de maladie incurable, où les mots sont empreints d'émotions bouleversantes, que nous osons entrer. Ceci représente une tâche essentielle car le moment de la souffrance intime et ultime du malade renvoie à la question même de l'être. Notre défi est de nommer le plus adéquatement possible ce vécu concret où la désolation plane comme un vautour au-dessus de sa proie. Dans une première partie, des itinéraires de malades nous conduiront au coeur de cette problématique fondamentale. Il nous importe alors de dénoncer les catégories de l'intelligence et de l'agir qui maintiennent la lutte désespérante contre la souffrance de la mort. Dénoncer cette lutte qui amène inévitablement le souffrant à se replier sur lui-même, à se résigner puisqu'il n'y peut rien: la mort ne se vainc pas. Se soumettre à la souffrance absurde de la maladie est bien la pire défaite de la vie. C'est l'action inerte de l'absorption, de l'ensevelissement de l'être essentiel dans le non-vouloir s'accomplir. Le sentiment d'impuissance bat les tambours de tous les replis de l'être comme un «je n'y peux rien, je n'en peux plus». Bien que le discours culturel de la lutte contre la maladie semble faire fleurir la vie, cette lutte démontre une dialectique fulgurante de mort car le devoir de vaincre la maladie, la mort, mène à la mort absurde: celle de la résignation à mourir. Elle occulte ainsi le processus de croissance de la personne qui se bat contre ce qu'elle est le plus naturellement, sa condition de finitude. Il y a dans la dialectique de la lutte une aliénation destructrice du pouvoir de guérison du malade. Ne reste-t-il qu'à affronter la résignation du désespoir: un souffrir-couché ? S'impose ainsi à la méditation théologique et philosophique le problème de savoir comment transformer la lutte-résignation d'un souffrir-couché en assumation-résistance d'un souffrir-debout ? Ici la distinction entre la «finitude essentielle» et «l'aliénation existentielle» peut favoriser une réflexion qui aide le malade à exercer une résistance créatrice dans l'instant de sa désolation. Un des problèmes réels qui s'oppose au soir de la maladie incurable, c'est le mystère d'une intrication entre la condition souffrante la plus naturelle qui soit, la finitude, et le mal de l'aliénation qui l'entache. Grâce aux catégories de la finitude et l'aliénation, il est possible de mettre en valeur l'idée d'un passage du souffrir-couché à l'acte progressif d'un souffrir-debout. Ces termes clés dans la culture philosophique actuelle renvoient impérativement à la question du sens de la vie que se pose le malade. Ils doivent être pris sous notre responsabilité pour répondre au problème d'une résignation à la souffrance. Un premier pas de croissance vers le souffrir-debout dans l'assumation de sa condition mortelle ne peut se concevoir que dans la foi en Dieu comme source de vie de la finitude essentielle. Il faut croire que, dans la foi en route, Dieu porte la fragilité de l'être, la vie créatrice en dépit de l'avoir-à-mourir. Il est possible d'assumer le silence de vie et de mort seulement si Dieu vient dans le corps de la finitude et le vivifie de sa puissance créatrice. En ce sens nous pouvons comprendre que l'angoisse de la finitude de l'être ne s'assume que dans le courage de la foi qui assume la mort. Contrairement à l'impuissance de la lutte contre la souffrance, le Souffle de Dieu est une puissance d'assumation de la finitude humaine; il fonde le courage d'être porté par Dieu. Même quand le désespoir s'impose, il y a la possibilité de la foi. Cette foi courageuse qui assume la finitude de l'être, la mort, aide le malade à tendre vers un souffrir-debout. Ce souffrir-debout dans l'expérience de la maladie consiste dans la foi comme la quête d'un pouvoir d'assumer la condition mortelle. À cette idée d'assumation se soude ainsi celle de résistance. Pour assumer sa condition mortelle il faut résister à tout ce qui empêche le soleil de briller, dire «non» à l'angoisse qui invite à la lutte désespérée contre la mort. Résister, c'est dire «non» à l'impuissance de l'échec, à la résignation. Ce «non» est la seule possibilité de sentir et d'accueillir Dieu comme créateur de la vie. Insister sur le «non» est le premier pas de la résistance à tout ce qui empêche le vrai, pour ne vivre que de cela. Admettre la dialectique de la foi assumation-résistance suppose que le malade peut toujours oser vivre dans l'abandon à Dieu; c'est aussi qu'il peut résister à tout ce qui empêche Dieu de jaillir dans le silence de la fragilité humaine. C'est en acceptant de s'accomplir dans ses limites ouvertes à Dieu que la possibilité d'éclosion à la puissance du courage d'être s'annonce. Voilà l'essence à faire d'un souffrir-debout. C'est dans la simplicité d'un récit autobiographique, qui nous introduit au passage du souffrir-couché dans la lutte-résignation au souffrir-debout dans l'assumation-résistance, que le souffrir-debout des malades apparaît comme une véritable dynamique de vie possible. La distinction entre la finitude et l'aliénation permet d'éclairer le passage du souffrir-couché au souffrir-debout. Elle illumine l'esprit et le coeur pour que cesse la domination de l'angoisse qui pousse à la plus folle des luttes: au désespoir dans la résignation. Vécue dans l'assumation et la résistance, la maladie n'est pas un mal qui impose au malade de vivre en «paria». La femme hémorragique dans la bible nous montre que dans le désespoir une puissance de décision et d'action peut naître. L'option de la foi permet de résister au mal désespérant d'une lutte aliénante. Elle ouvre une nouvelle espérance: celle de la vie éternelle.

This dissertation critically reviews chilangizo in the Baptist Convention of Malawi (BACOMA) and assesses its impact on Chewa society. Christian History has shown that the Christian attitude towards traditional customs and practices surrounding life cycle rituals has ranged from negative and hostile to positive and acceptance, resulting in offering alternative 'Christian' rituals. The issue of chilangizo and chinamwali have been a real pastoral and missiological problem to the Baptist Convention churches because of the churches' failure to understand the meaning of the traditional rites in the light of the mother tongue Scriptures. This study aims at guiding the Church in Malawi and in Africa to engage with more openness with the cultural issues. This should assist BACOMA to thoroughly understand this cultural phenomenon and the meanings associated with all aspects of the rites. Studying the Scriptures to understand how they reinterpret chinamwali and its associated meanings should lead BACOMA churches into an interactive process of discussion, reflection, teaching and action. This study is therefore an attempt to begin this process and make recommendations for BACOMA. After the introductory chapter, the second chapter gives a survey of the 'religious itinerary' of the Chewa pre-Christian life and thought. The third chapter traces the emergence of BACOMA churches within the American Southern Baptists' religious and Western cultural contexts on one hand, and the African context on the other. The fourth chapter gives a phenomenological description and analysis of chinamwali. It also shows the socio-religious significance of chinamwali within the Chewa culture. The fifth chapter surveys the historical context of chilangizo as the Christian response to the traditional rite. It then analyses the Baptist chilangizo liturgy and its contents. The sixth chapter gives the phenomenological description and analysis of chilangizo at the grassroots level. It also assesses its impact and makes recommendations towards an improved rite. In view of the assessment and recommendations made in chapter six, the final chapter allows the Chewa Scriptures to re-interpret the rite and its meanings. It also presents a proposed Christian chinamwali that maintains the traditional ritual frame and dynamism. The proposal leaves room for creativity and improvement by the individual congregations.
Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.

O presente relatório visa refletir sobre a pertinência da Educação no seu cômputo geral e a coexistência de duas disciplinas, Educação para a Cidadania e Educação Moral e Religiosa Católica, que primam pela preocupação da formação do cidadão, como um ser integrante de uma sociedade democrática, com papel ativo e interventivo. Com a globalização e a presença de diferentes culturas, novos desafios se impõe, tanto à escola, como à própria educação, uma vez que esta deve ser multicultural e multirreligiosa procurando estabelecer uma certa harmonia social. Assim, a educação tem o papel de ajudar a compreender o mundo e as pessoas bem como o de cultivar o sentido de pertença a uma comunidade. Sendo a educação um direito de todos, não se poderia deixar de incluir, nesta reflexão, o testemunho de uma persistência invulgar de uma menina chamada Malala, com origem no Paquistão, demonstrando o quão a escola, a educação e a instrução são veículos impulsionadores para ser-se voz ativa na sociedade e instrumentos base na construção de uma identidade, sendo a atual caracterizada por ser tecnocrata e individualista. Desta forma, o Estado é responsável por proporcionar a todos os cidadãos o acesso à educação e garantir que todos são capazes de participar ativamente na sociedade em que estão inseridos. Por essa razão se entende o enfoco que se dá à educação para a cidadania, sendo uma preocupação que provém da antiguidade e na sociedade atual é de extrema importância alertar para a necessidade de os cidadãos serem proativos e terem a capacidade de refletirem criticamente acerca de problemas sociais que os envolvem, tentando colmatar o individualismo, fruto da tecnocracia vigente na sociedade de hoje. Porém, a disciplina de Educação Moral e Religiosa Católica tem um papel importantíssimo na formação do carácter dos cidadãos. Se, por um lado, a Educação para a Cidadania se preocupa com a participação ativa na sociedade do cidadão, por outro, a disciplina anterior preocupa-se com a Formação Integral, procurando ajudar a pessoa a ser, a integrar-se com os outros, a desenvolver o sentido altruísta.
The purpose of this report is to reflect upon the relevance of education in general and the coexistence of two subjects, Education for Citizenship and Catholic Moral and Religious Education, which focus on the concern for the formation of the citizen as an integral part of a democratic society with an active role. With globalization and the presence of different cultures, new challenges are imposed both on school and on education itself, considering that it must be multicultural and multireligious, aiming at establishing a certain social harmony. The role of education is therefore to help to understand the world and the other, as well as to cultivate the sense of belonging to a community. Bearing in mind that everyone has the right to education, one has to include in this reflection the pungent testimonial and the unusual persistence of a girl named Malala from Pakistan, who shows us how school and education play an active role in society and how both constitute basic instruments in the construction of an identity, which is currently defined as being technocratic and individualistic. In this regard, the State is responsible for providing all citizens with access to education and ensuring that all are able to participate actively in the society they live in. For this reason, the focus on education for citizenship is made clear, since it is a concern that comes from ancient times. In today’s society, it is extremely important to call for the need for citizens to be proactive and to have the ability to reflect critically about social problems, trying to avoid individualism, which results from the technocracy in our society today. However, the subject of Catholic Moral and Religious Education plays a very important role in shaping the character of citizens. If, on the one hand, Citizenship Education is concerned with active participation in the society of the citizen, the other subject, on the other hand, is concerned with the Integral Training, trying to help the individual on how to integrate with the others and develop the sense of selflessness.

Cette recherche, traitera de la perception qu’ont les infirmières, œuvrant en milieu pédiatrique, de leur apport dans le processus de consentement aux soins et des enjeux éthique qui en découlent. L’analyse de leurs commentaires, fait voir une extension de la définition, plus classique, du concept même de consentement, pour y inclure la dimension d’un processus enclenché et poursuivi dans le dialogue et la né-gociation; un consentement sans cesse à répéter, à renégocier. Les participantes ne parlaient guère d’autonomie mais parlent surtout de ce consen-tement aux actes de soins, actes individuels, voire routiniers. Le but recherché par l’infirmière est moins une permission donnée par le patient pour que le soignant fasse son travail en toute immunité sur le plan légal, qu’une collaboration pour permettre une cogestion de la maladie. Très souvent, les infirmières discutent de l’importance qu’a pour elles le travail d’équipe, comme la façon logique de concevoir leur travail. Il devient logique aussi d’étendre aux parents et à l’enfant la participation à l’équipe thérapeutique. Ce n’est pas dire que tout se passe sans heurt. L’enfant peut s’opposer, ou le parent. Les conflits de valeurs surgissent: conflits et détresse morale suscités chez l’infirmière par la confrontation à des croyances et des valeurs culturelles et reli-gieuses différentes de celles auxquelles l’infirmière adhèrerait plus facilement. Mais souvent, l’infirmière fait montre d’une grande sensibilité culturelle et religieuse; et il lui arrive de faire appel à des collègues qui pourraient, plus qu’elle, connaître les sys-tèmes de valeurs qui posent question. Nous nous sommes servi d’un ensemble de référents interprétatifs initiaux à titre d’un cadre conceptuel intégrant des notions tirées du modèle de soins infirmiers de Corbin et Strauss, ainsi que de la perspective proposée par l’interactionnisme symbo-lique.
This research will address the perception that nurses working in a pediatric setting have of their contribution to the process of consent for care. Data analysis reveals an extension of the more conventional definition: here, the very con-cept of consent is perceived as to include the dimension of a process initiated and continued in dialogue and negotiation. Participants hardly spoke about autonomy but mostly of constantly repeated and renegotiated consent to individual or even routine acts of care. The intent of the nurse is less to obtain the patient’s permission for the caregiver to do his or her job with immunity, in legal terms; it is more to empower the child and his or her parents so as to obtain a collaboration to enable co-management of the disease. Very often, nurses discussed the importance for them of teamwork as the logical way to design their work. It is also logical to extend to parents and children an invitation to partici-pate in the therapeutic team. This is not to say that everything always goes smoothly. The child or the parent may raise opposition. Value conflicts then arise: conflicts and moral distress among nurs-es generated by the confrontation of beliefs and cultural and religious values differ-ent from those the nurse would more easily be comfortable with. But often, the nurse demonstrated a great cultural and religious sensitivity, and even would seek advice from colleagues who could know, more than she, about the value systems that raise questions. We used a set of interpretative initial referents as a conceptual framework that inte-grates concepts from the nursing model of Corbin and Strauss, as well as from the symbolic interactionism perspective.