Envisioning Africana Religions: Seeking a Distinctive Voice for the Study of Religions in Africa and the African Diaspora

Abstract

This chapter theorizes and reflects on Africana religious studies as co-constitutive of four fundamental premises—a conceptual framework that prioritizes the epistemological, hermeneutical, and existential primacy of African Traditional Religions (ATRs) as the core cosmological framework for Africana religious traditions and practices. These include (1) the preeminence of African traditional religions (ATR) as the foundation for a trans-historical paradigm that presupposes an Africana history of religions, (2) the centrality and agency of Africana religious categories in the interpretative enterprise, (3) the ongoing dialogue with Africana religions and cultures as a source for addressing the existential realities that shape the mundane and metaphysical experiences of African-descended people and the global community, and (4) transgressive transdisciplinarity that encompasses various disciplinary approaches to the study of Africana religious expressions. The chapter distinguishes between Africana religions as “religion of the oppressed” in juxtaposition with African religions as “sovereign religion.” These parallel foci incorporate the transdisciplinary insights that the social sciences, humanities, environmental, physical, and biological sciences as well as the arena of foreign affairs, international studies, business, and security and strategic studies can provide.