This thesis examines the entanglements and interactions between OMG – a Charismatic Pentecostal Church and the post-colonial Zimbabwean state through an ethnographic analysis of church members' everyday lives. I focus on money and consumption, and make several arguments in an attempt to explain the rapid expansion of OMG. Whilst the study adopts a political economy approach in framing the conditions under which the church emerged, I place Pentecostal Charismatic belief and experience at the centre of the analysis. Money and commodity consumption have been creatively incorporated into OMG belief systems and doctrines at a time when the Zimbabwean economy is performing poorly, and poverty is an everyday reality for most of the population. The consumption of commodities has religious significance inasmuch as it is a critique of the post- independence government that has largely failed to improve the lives of Zimbabweans. In consuming commodities, OMG congregants set themselves apart from non-members and construct themselves as ‘blessed’ and thriving. I argue that the mismanagement of the postcolonial state has provided crevices and clefts through which OMG has emerged and grown as a proxy to the state by appropriating aspects of state and chieftaincy rituals. Secondly, OMG offers alternative social spaces for citizens to be - or to appear to be - upwardly mobile and construct a sense of common identity based on religion, history and belonging. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria 2019. / Human Economy Programme / University of Pretoria for the Post-Graduate Doctoral Bursary – Humanities / FlyHigher@UP grant / Anthropology and Archaeology / PhD / Unrestricted

Health-seeking behaviour encompasses the actions, thought processes and decision-making involved in establishing and maintaining a healthy physiological state. As such, various studies have investigated the factors that influence health-seeking behaviour. Such factors included demographic, socio-economic, political, religious and cultural factors. It was however, found that there was a lack of research regarding the specific factors of Charismatic Christians that affect health-seeking behaviour, thus guiding the research question. The aim of this study was to explore the spiritual factors influencing health-seeking behaviours of the Charismatic Christians in Johannesburg, Gauteng. Through a paradigm of interpretivism, research was conducted using a qualitative approach to explore and describe how the spiritual factors of Charismatic Christians influence health-seeking behaviour. An instrumental case study design was utilised in order to gain insight into the phenomenon of health-seeking behaviour, to create recommendations to facilitate practice and to refine theory to increase health-seeking behaviour among Charismatic Christians. This was done through the use of one-to-one, semi-structured interviews with participants, who were incorporated into the study through voluntary, purposive sampling. Previous studies found various factors affecting health-seeking behaviour, amongst these were religious factors. Furthermore, there were several studies that explored the health-seeking behaviours of Charismatic Christians, however, this was mainly focused on the mental health domain. To date, little research has been done into the general health-seeking behaviours of Charismatic Christians, which indicated the gap for the research study. The findings of the study both supported and contradicted the specific factors affecting health-seeking behaviour, found in the national and international studies in the literature review. However, the study agreed with the previous studies, that spiritual factors do affect the health-seeking behaviours of Charismatic Christians in Gauteng. It can be concluded that participants are not averse to seeking professional healthcare services that are easily accessible, however, unless the symptoms are severe, participants will engage in other methods of self-care prior to seeking healthcare services. Secondly, Charismatic Christianity was found to encourage health-seeking behaviour through teachings of self-control, self-respect, and healing through medicine. Thirdly, it was concluded that in some instances, Charismatic Christianity could deter individuals from health-seeking behaviour as they have a belief in divine healing from God, thus it is not necessary for them to seek formal healthcare services. Lastly, it was concluded that participants have had limited contact with social workers in the healthcare setting, thus limiting their knowledge regarding the role of social work, however, they are willing to engage with social workers in the healthcare settings, if services adhere to ethical standards. Based on the conclusions of the study, it was recommended that the healthcare team, including social workers, be knowledgeable about the spiritual factors influencing health-seeking behaviour, as well as remain non-judgemental and allow for autonomy of patients. It was further recommended that preventative healthcare be encouraged and promoted within healthcare settings. It was lastly recommended that patients have access to information regarding symptoms and severity, to encourage individuals to seek professional healthcare timeously. / Mini Dissertation (MSW (Healthcare))--University of Pretoria, 2021. / Social Work and Criminology / MSW / Unrestricted

Stockholm County is a post-industrial Swedish region characterized by high levels of mobility and technologization as well as ethnic and religious diversity. Among its religious minorities exist various strands of charismatic Christianity, some of which originate from the Pentecostal revival of the early 20th century and some of which belong to more recent movements. The aim of this ethnographic study is to examine how affiliates of the multicultural charismatic Christian congregation New Life Church practice religiosity within the context of their personal daily lives, within the framework of the general congregation and in terms of their involvements with other religious organizations in the area of Stockholm. Beginning with the assumption that the practice of contemporary religiosity and the development of a religious identity are part of an ongoing process of habituation, the study describes how practitioners cultivate a form of charismatic piety characterized by certain embodied orientations, patterns of ritualization and narrative genres. To shed further light on this process, it draws upon a variety of theories concerning ritualization, embodiment, performance, narratives and materiality. Apart from this, the study also constitutes an attempt to explore and measure the impact on the practitioners’ religiosity of late modern developments such as urbanization, detraditionalization and global mobility as well as the growing absorption in consumerism, emotional intimacy and the unfolding of the “authentic” inner self. While pursuing these ends, the study also calls into question previous assumptions about charismatic Christianity in Sweden, most particularly the assumption that today’s practitioners remain inclined to be entirely faithful to one given institution and its system of beliefs and practices. Indeed this view is directly challenged herein by the finding that contemporary charismatics are far more inclined to eclectically appropriate elements and models of thoughts from various contexts of origin as well as to affiliate with and/or visit multiple Christian institutions.

The aim of my thesis is to discuss the possible uses of the concept of autonomy in the study of conversions of Roma to Charismatic/Pentecostal Christianity. Focus on empowerment and social inclusion has been prevailing in the field, and critical reflection of questions of governance and oppression is lacking. I use the thesis by Patrick Williams (1987; 1991; 1993a), according to whom the French Gypsies who converted to Pentecostalism achieved autonomy or at least a sense of autonomy, which allowed them to downplay the role of structural factors and other people behind their actions. Through a case study from ethnographic fieldwork in a Romani Charismatic congregation in Western Bohemia I extend and refine the concept. The main theoretical innovations come from the contemporary moral philosophy, especially the theory of autonomy (of the oppressed) by Christman (2014) who defines autonomy as a reflexive affirmation of an assumed practical identity, a "life worth living". The story which missionaries in Márov, the place of my fieldwork, put forward, was that Roma converted from being pimps and drug dealers. The empirical realities and narratives about the change cast doubt on the easy account of radical change through the religion. Based on a detailed focus on conversion of one former drug addict I...

The aim of my thesis is to discuss the possible uses of the concept of autonomy in the study of conversions of Roma to Charismatic/Pentecostal Christianity. Focus on empowerment and social inclusion has been prevailing in the field, and critical reflection of questions of governance and oppression is lacking. I use the thesis by Patrick Williams (1987; 1991; 1993a), according to whom the French Gypsies who converted to Pentecostalism achieved autonomy or at least a sense of autonomy, which allowed them to downplay the role of structural factors and other people behind their actions. Through a case study from ethnographic fieldwork in a Romani Charismatic congregation in Western Bohemia I extend and refine the concept. The main theoretical innovations come from the contemporary moral philosophy, especially the theory of autonomy (of the oppressed) by Christman (2014) who defines autonomy as a reflexive affirmation of an assumed practical identity, a "life worth living". The story which missionaries in Márov, the place of my fieldwork, put forward, was that Roma converted from being pimps and drug dealers. The empirical realities and narratives about the change cast doubt on the easy account of radical change through the religion. Based on a detailed focus on conversion of one former drug addict I...