Women, Religion and Leadership in Zimbabwe, Volume 2 Engagement and Activism in Religious Institutions

Zimbabwe has invested in women’s emancipation and leadership while articulating a strong Pan-Africanist ideology, providing a valuable entry point into understanding the dynamics relating to women’s leadership in Africa. It is also characterised by radical religious pluralism, thereby facilitating an appreciation of the impact of religion on women’s leadership in Africa more generally. 

This volume reflects on the role of Zimbabwean women in religio-cultural leadership, with a specific focus on roles within religious organizations. It begins by examining Zimbabwean church women’s leadership roles in long established faith communities. The chapters then hone in on the emergence of churches or ministries founded by women in Zimbabwe, starting from the pre-colonial era and advancing through the last forty years of independence.

Hence, the book offers a comprehensive assessment of the challenges and opportunities women in leadership face in religious institutions inthe country, before exploring the impact of the pandemic on the ability of women to lead. It will make a major contribution to the advancement of scholarship of gender and leadership in emerging markets.

Prologue- Interfacing leadership theories and African women’s diverse leadership roles.- 1. Introduction: Women, Religion and Leadership in Zimbabwe- Molly Manyonganise, Ezra Chitando and Sophia Chirongoma.- Section A: Women’s leadership engagement and activism in Zimbabwean Faith Communities.- 2. Women’s Transformative Leadership and Africa’s Holistic Development: The Role of the Churches- Isabel A. Phiri and Ezra Chitando.- 3. Visibility and Leadership Opportunities for Muslim Women in Zimbabwe-Silindiwe Zvingowanisei.- 4. Women’s Leadership roles in the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe (1891-2020)- Simbarashe Munamati.- 5. Gender dynamics in the Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe (AFMZ) leadership hierarchy- Terence Mupangwa.- 6. Women’s Leadership in the Guta Ra Jehovha Church: Towards the Construction of ‘Soft Masculinities’- Muyambo Amos.- 7. Exploring the Status of Women in the Zion Christian Church since 1913- Solomon Mukora.- Section B: Women’s Leadership in New Religious Movements and Cultural Traditions.- 8. The Emergence of Churches and Ministries founded/led by Women in Zimbabwe- Mpumelelo Moyo.- 9. Religio-cultural ‘clamps’ on female leadership in Zimbabwe: towards a liberating hermeneutic in mainline churches and African Initiated Churches (AICs)- Canisius Mwandayi.- 10. Zezuru women’s leadership roles in the death rites of passage in Zimbabwe: A pastoral response  – Sylvia Musasiwa and Yolanda Dreyer.- 11. Afterword- Tying the strands on African Women, Religion and Leadership.

 

Molly Manyonganise is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies and Philosophy at the Zimbabwe Open University. Her research interests comprise religion and politics, gender and religion, religion and sexuality, African Indigenous Religion(s) as well as African Christianity.

Ezra Chitando is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Zimbabwe.

Sophia Chirongoma is Senior Lecturer in the Religious Studies Department at Midlands State University, Zimbabwe. Her research interests and publications focus on the interface between culture, ecology, religion, health and gender justice.