The Politics of Interfaith Institutions in Contemporary Tanzania

In English Focusing on the case of Tanzania, this study highlights the role of
religious institutions in building national unity and consolidating
democracy in the multi-religious contexts of Sub-Saharan Africa.
In recent years cooperation along inter- and intra-religious lines
has been strongly encouraged as a way of coping with tensions
evident in the society. The case of the Inter-Religious Council for
Peace Tanzania (IRCPT) is analysed from a power-oriented perspective
as well as in light of present-day civil society relations and
the historical religio-political context. The study explores interfaith
cooperation in Tanzania in relation to the ujamaa ideology,
civil religion, western development discourses and neopatrimonial
practices. It shows how religious institutions are connected to political
power and involved in ongoing informal political struggles
over both resources and institutions that to a greater or lesser extent
affect and determine their inter- and intra-religious relationships.
In short, the study argues that if the effects of present-day
interfaith initiatives are to be adequately assessed, inter-religious
cooperation, which is promoted as a facilitator of development,
needs to be properly contextualised in its political setting.