Religious Activism on Campuses in Togo and Benin: Christian and Muslim Students Navigating Authoritarianism and Laïcité, 1970–2023

Frédérick Madore

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Religious Activism on Campuses in Togo and Benin

Christian and Muslim Students Navigating Authoritarianism and Laïcité, 1970–2023

Frédérick Madore
Funded by: Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient

Language: English

Published/Copyright: 2025

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Volume 48 | ZMO-Studien

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The interplay between religion and student activism at the universities of Abomey-Calavi (Benin) and Lomé (Togo) has often been overlooked, although faith-based organisations and student unions have coexisted since the 1970s. Based on interviews with different generations of activists, this book uncovers the neglected history of Christian and Muslim student associations on these campuses, originally strongholds of leftist and secular ideologies. It analyses the emergence of these groups under a Marxist-Leninist regime in Benin and a one-party dictatorship in Togo, and explores the implications of growing religiosity for these public universities as secular institutions.

The history of these associations reveals the campus as a microcosm reflecting wider national socio-political life, while also highlighting the importance of translocal factors in shaping the internal dynamics of these groups. Amidst the massification of university enrolments and rising graduate unemployment, faith-based associations have come to provide more than religious guidance. Increasingly, they offer a "social curriculum", providing a space for socialisation and a set of skills, norms and moral values that complement the secular academic curriculum.

Author / Editor information

Frédérick Madore, Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin, Germany.

Topics

Frontmatter Open Access Download PDF	I
Contents Open Access Download PDF	V
Acknowledgements Open Access Download PDF	VII
Timeline and Map Open Access Download PDF	IX
List of the Main Abbreviations and Acronyms Open Access Download PDF	XIII
List of Figures Open Access Download PDF	XV
Preface Open Access Download PDF	XVII
1 Introduction Open Access Download PDF	1
2 The Advent of Military Regimes and the Open Access Download PDF	31
3 Surviving in an Authoritarian Context: The First Faith-Based Student Associations on Campuses (1970s–80s) Open Access Download PDF	61
4 Faith-Based Activism in an Era of Democratisation and Campuses in Turmoil (1990s) Open Access Download PDF	85
5 Developing Leaders with Moral Values: Providing Entrepreneurial Skills Beyond the Academic Curriculum (2000–10s) Open Access Download PDF	127
6 The Becoming of Former Activists Beyond Campus: A New Religious Elite? Open Access Download PDF	167
7 ‘Too Young’, ‘Immature’, and not Committed Enough: The Decline of Faith-Based Student Organisations? Open Access Download PDF	201
Conclusion: A History of Resilience, Adaptation, and Community Open Access Download PDF	239
Sources and Bibliography Open Access Download PDF	245
Index Open Access Download PDF	281

Publishing information

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

eBook published on:

March 31, 2025

eBook ISBN:

9783111428895

Hardcover published on:

March 31, 2025

Hardcover ISBN:

9783111427904

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

Front matter:

19

Main content:

288

Illustrations:

17

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111428895

eBook ISBN: 9783111428895

Hardcover ISBN: 9783111427904

Keywords for this book

Activism; Africa; higher education; religion

Audience(s) for this book

Scientists in African, Arabic and religious studies, historians, sociologists

Creative Commons

BY-NC-ND 4.0

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Religious Activism on Campuses in Togo and Benin

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