Towards the sustainable well-being of communities: Africa, the modern empire and Christianity is an open-access book published by AOSIS.

This book offers a transdisciplinary exploration of the southern African context, examining the dynamic interactions between traditional African beliefs, Christianity, and the modern global empire, all in close relation to the African landscape and ecology. Drawing on original research, the book delves into the ways these powerful forces have shaped contemporary households and communities, emphasizing the importance of community agency and sustainable, indigenous solutions for everyday challenges. It highlights the intersection of cultural, religious, and ecological systems, offering a holistic approach to building resilient and sustainable communities. While centered on southern Africa, the book’s insights are valuable to global researchers and those invested in creating a dignified, livable, and sustainable future for Africa.

Copyright (c) 2024 Attie van Niekerk (Author)

The research in this book is based on the work of the Nova Institute. This non-profit company aims to contribute to the development of low-income households within the context of sustainability, and its strategies focus on solving energy use, pollution and food security problems. The traditional African household has been disrupted by alienation from the land, economic exploitation and wars because of Western involvement in southern Africa. African people also find it challenging to reconcile Western values with traditional ones. This book attempts to understand how African thought patterns, the church and theology interact. Additionally, it seeks meaningful solutions to problems faced by Africans to build sustainable communities. It argues that as long as the church focuses exclusively on the salvation of the individual soul, without considering the existential problems faced by vulnerable African people, it will never be effective and relevant in reaching them. The descriptive analysis of the complex southern African situation within the book, marked by extreme social and economic inequality and its prescriptive analysis of possible solutions, which serve as elements of a strategy to build sustainable communities based on traditional African values, makes it a timely contribution to the possible involvement of the church in southern Africa’s most pressing challenges.

Prof. Marius Nel, Faculty of Theology, Unit for Reformational
Theology and the Development of the South African Society, North-West University, South Africa