Intimités et inimitiés du religieux et du politique en Afrique,

The objective of this special issue of Civilisations is to shed a new light on the multiple relations between religion and processes of democratization in Africa. In the Semi-Authoritarian regimes under analysis, the political role played by religious movements appears to be growing, but does not seem univocal. Whether they oppose the power, criticize or legitimize it, these religious movements provide a growing symbolical support to the local people and help them analyze and interpret the political and social worlds. Nevertheless, their growing diversity and gradual breaking into a mosaique makes it complicated to carry out a very precise analysis of their political tendencies and impact. Is the establishment of a possible connection between social position, production and reception of religious ideologies one useful methodological way to clarify the relations of intimacy and enmity between religion and policy? In order to provide a number of answers, the articles of this special issue depart from case studies that illustrate the general mechanisms that shape the relations between religion and policy.