Migration and the Global Landscapes of Religion : Making Congolese Moral Worlds in Diaspora and Homeland

This book uses case studies of the Congolese Christian diaspora in the UK and US to explore the making of religious spaces and transnational networks in an era of globalisation. Religion is a key aspect of the community, social and political life of Congolese migrants. Despite their academic and policy relevance in terms of displacement and diaspora formation processes, Congolese migrant communities have been scantily researched. Religion, Migration and Globalization analyses the social meaning of this religious presence and territorialisation in a context of economic and socio-spatial marginalisation for Congolese migrants. These migrants who had (and for some, still have) to address the predicaments of displacement, relocation and the status of being ‘a minority within a minority’, as Francophone black African migrants in English-speaking countries. Drawing on extensive ethnographic data, David Garbin captures the nuances of a complex and changing social and religious landscape in an era of globalisation and migration. This book draws upon case studies of the Congolese Christian diaspora in the UK and US and an ethnography of religious urbanization in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to explore the making of religious spaces and moral landscapes in an era of globalization. Religion is a key aspect of the community, social and political life of Congolese migrants – many of whom have to address the predicaments of displacement, relocation and the status of being 'a minority within a minority', as Francophone black African migrants in English-speaking countries. The book demonstrates the role of religion in the production of moral worlds and the ways in which for Congolese Christians this process both results from and facilitates a process of 'regrounding' in the midst of ambivalent urban environments. Through a multi-sited ethnography the book also examines the impact of transnational religious practices on development and city-making in the homeland, in a context of increasing informalization and infrastructural deficit. Drawing on extensive ethnographic data, David Garbin captures the nuances of a complex and changing social, political and religious landscape for Congolese migrants relying on the construction of moral worlds and revealing the role of a range of connections but also disconnections between diaspora and homeland across multiple scales. An essential resource for scholars and researchers interested in the intersections of religion, migration and urbanization in both Global North and Global South contexts. This book uses case studies of the Congolese Christian diaspora in the UK and US to explore the making of religious spaces and transnational networks in an era of globalisation. Religion is a key aspect of the community, social and political life of Congolese migrants. Despite their academic and policy relevance in terms of displacement and diaspora formation processes, Congolese migrant communities have been scantily researched. 0Religion, Migration and Globalization analyses the social meaning of this religious presence and territorialisation in a context of economic and socio-spatial marginalisation for Congolese migrants. These migrants who had (and for some, still have) to address the predicaments of displacement, relocation and the status of being 'a minority within a minority', as Francophone black African migrants in English-speaking countries. Drawing on extensive ethnographic data, David Garbin captures the nuances of a complex and changing social and religious landscape in an era of globalisation and migration Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Contents Figures Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter 1: Locating Congolese Christianities: Diaspora and homeland contexts Chapter 2: ‘God stamps the visa first’: Spiritual infrastructures and the paths of mobility and settlement Chapter 3: Modalities of presence: Territorializing and performing diasporic religion Chapter 4: The ‘right to the city’ and beyond: Religion, race and diasporic politics Chapter 5: ‘Painful choices’: The moral economies of remittances Chapter 6: Developing and (re)moralizing the homeland: Narratives and interventions Chapter 7: Building the ‘alter-city’: Religious urbanization in the homeland Conclusion: Moral worlds and the global landscapes of Congolese Christianities Notes References Index