Proclaiming Political Pluralism: Churches and Political Transitions in Africa. Isaac Phiri. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2001. 169 pp.

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Proclaiming Political Pluralism: Churches and Political Transitions in Africa is one of the titles in the series of Religion in the Age of Transformation of Praeger Publishers. Isaac Phiri, the author, is the director of international training for Cook Communications and adjunct professor of social science at Regis University in Colorado.

The titles of the five chapters in the book are as follows: 1. Churches and the African Political Arena; 2. Churches and Political Transitions in Zambia; 3. Churches and Political Transitions in Zimbabwe; 4. Churches and Changes in South Africa; and 5. Proclaiming Politics of Peace and Love: A New Role for Churches in Pluralist Africa.

In the first chapter, Phiri reveals the purpose of this book as an exploration of the reasons and processes that the churches played in African transitions to plural politics in the 1990s. This book is significant in three distinct ways. First, it addresses the importance of Christian churches in African politics. Second, it provides a broad comparative perspective and analysis. Third, it evaluates the role of churches as an integral part of the larger society. Based on the framework of theoretical analysis on Cameroon researched by Jean Francois Bayart, Phiri develops three models of church-state relations: collaborative, complementary, and confrontational in three African countries, namely, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. However, he qualifies that in reality they are not mutually exclusive because they may exist simultaneously at different levels or in different segments of the collective Christian community at various points of time.

In chapter two, Phiri first established the historical importance of Christianity in Zambia with the fact that seventy-five percent of the country’s ten million people are Christian. In the postcolonial era, Kenneth Kaunda’s government maintained relative benevolence, therefore, defusing direct conflict with churches. When a wave of democracy was sweeping across Africa, Kaunda, who first resisted change, was willing to subject himself to the electoral process. When the state is more responsive to the demands of civil society, conflict with the churches is less likely to occur. Therefore, the church-state relation in Zambia is an example of the collaborative model.

The third chapter examines church-state relations in terms of state repression of political opposition in Zimbabwe (formerly Southern Rhodesia) during the four following epochs: 1. The colonial period (1890-1965); 2. The Unilateral Declaration of Independence years (1965-1977); 3. The Muzorewa years (1977-1980); and 4. The Mugabe years (1980-1995). The masses expect the churches and church leaders to assume political roles as a substitutionary function. As soon as civil society is realized, church leaders who stay in the political arena and assume partisan positions lose their legitimacy. Therefore, church leaders have only transitory role in politics. Therefore, church-state relations in Zimbabwe is interpreted as complimentary.

In chapter four, the church-state relation in South Africa is regarded as confrontational because reaction against the repression of civil society is the primary explanation for the involvement of churches in political activities. Bishop Desmond Tutu and other black clergies in the South African Council of Churches (SACC) became the main opposition force to the state under the repressive system of apartheid.

In the final chapter, Phiri proposes a unique role for churches to play in Africa in the pluralist era. His suggestion is that churches should remain active and influence Africa’s plural politics with peace and love through the press, radio, television, public rhetoric, peace education, peace and reconciliation conference, relief and development aid, and prayer. 

This book affirms the political contribution of the Christian church as an important factor in terms of participatory stabilization and/or activism in Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. Phiri’s idealism of promoting peace and love through the churches in Africa should be applauded. A bibliography with more than two hundred and twenty entries of books and articles following the five chapters is extensive. This will be a great resource for all who are interested in further studies in church-state relations in Africa in general and in the countries of Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa in particular.

Alan L. Chan
San Francisco