In 2015, Zambia began an ambitious program to 鈥渁ctualize鈥� the country鈥檚 constitutional declaration that it was a 鈥淐hristian nation.鈥� For Pentecostal Christian nationalist activists, this was a 鈥渄ivine season,鈥� an opportunity to change their country by submitting it to God鈥檚 control. In this book, Naomi Haynes examines these efforts at national transformation, offering a careful ethnographic exploration of Christian nationalist theology, ritual, and policy initiatives. Drawing on her extensive fieldwork in Lusaka, Zambia鈥檚 capital, Haynes describes how activists promoted Zambia鈥檚 Christian identity, whether by writing books and newspaper articles, posting on social media, building new monuments, praying for the nation, or lobbying for constitutional changes.
By tracing Zambian Christian nationalism鈥檚 internal contradictions and tensions, Haynes charts its ultimate failure, which she ascribes in part to institutional opposition from the civil service and Catholic and mainline Protestant denominations. She also points to what she terms its fatal theological flaw, going beyond the usual secular analysis in anthropology to engage with theological critiques of Christian nationalism. The example of Zambia offers the most fully realized expression of Christian nationalism outside the West, demonstrating what this movement can look like when given free political rein. With this book, Haynes provides an instructive account of an increasingly influential global movement.
Naomi Haynes is senior lecturer and Chancellor’s Fellow in Social Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh. She is the author of Moving by the Spirit: Pentecostal Social Life on the Zambian Copperbelt and coeditor of Hierarchy and Value: Comparative Perspectives on Moral Order.
“A Divine Season promises to transform discussions of Christian nationalism. This is a lucid, fine-grained ethnography that reminds us of the importance of understanding projects of religious nationhood in a comparative light.”—Frederick Klaits, University at Buffalo
“An important book that offers a new, critical model for how to confront the rising challenge of Christian nationalism around the globe. Not only does Haynes explicitly choose to move beyond the established anthropology of Christianity framework, she also insists that secular critique is not the only ground from which to question the ethics of current Christian praxis.”—Elayne Oliphant, New York University
“In A Divine Season, Naomi Haynes’s talents as an ethnographer and cultural critic are on full display. With a steady pen, she maps out the intricacies of Christian nationalist activism in Zambia, providing an invaluable account of the logic that fuses politics and faith. And with bold strokes, she offers a prophetic critique of that logic, challenging its fixation on worldly power. This is a book that anyone concerned with the rising force of Christian nationalism around the globe needs to read.”—Matthew Engelke, author of How to Think Like an Anthropologist
“This beautifully written, honest book is a timely, important ethnography of Christian nationalist theology, ritual, and policymaking, framed as part of a globalizing religious movement. A Divine Season makes a significant contribution to an ethical anthropology where the anthropologist offers critique rather than judgment. A must-read for anyone concerned with religion and politics today.”—Ayala Fader, Fordham University
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