Book Symposium: Pentecostalism and Politics

Director and Associate Professor Karen Lauterbach contributes to Contending Modernities’ book symposium (Symposium on Pastoral Power Clerical State Archives | Contending Modernities) on Ebenezer Obadare’s book Pastoral Power, Clerical State: Pentecostalism, Gender, and Sexuality in Nigeria. Lauterbach observes that Obadare’s work is not bound by conventionalism—disciplinary or other—as it takes the Pentecostal pastors’ spheres of influence to extend across the nation’s “political, sexual, and cultural topography.” . Obadare’s book focuses on the power pastors have and how they wish to hold, perform, and access it. He focuses on the complex relationship between the Man of God and the Man of Letters; otherwise referred to as an intellectual. Lauterbach explores this dichotomy and uses it to explain how we can move past this binary as pastors have come to act in both roles. Their performance of text and production ability allow them to gain status and helps them in the political sphere. She further suggests that Obadare’s text raises questions that extend beyond the Nigerian context about the role of religion today in seemingly secular societies. Overall, Lauterbach examines how Obadare’s book can help us focus on the questions we have about the nature of power and the role of secularism.

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