Shades of Belonging: African Pentecostals in twenty-first century Ireland

Abstract

In this book Abel Ugba combines sociological theories of religion and rich ethnographic data to illustrate the complex ways in which African immigrants in twenty-first century Ireland use Pentecostalism not only as a space for belonging but also in the construction of ‘self’ and ‘others’. The book brings to light the importance of Pentecostalism in aiding the construction of identities and the negotiation of new social realities in the country of settlement. The main thrust of the work lies in its exploration of the ambivalent relationship that exists between Pentecostal African immigrants and mainstream churches, which are regarded as ‘spiritually dead’. Ugba considers African Pentecostals in Ireland as ‘living in a parallel social and moral universe’ (p. 124). Pentecostalism enables African immigrants to redefine their position and role in Irish society. They see themselves ‘not as a racialised minority immigrant group perching precariously on the periphery of Irish society but as agents of social and religious change with a God-given mission to preach moral regeneration and spiritual revival in Ireland’ (p. 173).

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