Infancia y Adolecencia

The Afrobarometer Round 4 dataset captures four forms of associations: religious associations, civic voluntary associations, labor and trade unions, and professional associations. Of the four types of associations, the religious associations claim the lion’s share of membership. The Afrobarometer round 4 reports on average, 73% of those surveyed are members of a religious association group; 38.5% claim a membership in a community development or civic voluntary association.

2.2.1.1 Religious Group Associations.

Africa displays one of the highest percentage of membership in religious groups. On average, 3 out of 4 Africans claim a membership in these organizations. This is higher than the religious membership in the US, which is estimated at 55% (Mike Lee, 2016). Perhaps two reasons explain the high number of membership in religious groups in Africa. First, the pervasiveness of poverty and hardship; and second, the proliferation of charismatic churches and several other syncretic movements (Bratton, 2005). The Afrobarometer enumerates a total of nine religious groups. For convenience, I group these religious groups into two general categories: Christians and Muslims. Geographically, Islam comes as the number one religious group in most northern and western parts of the African continent; in the central and the southern Africa, Christianity comes first. The size of membership in these religious groups varies across countries. Countries with the highest rate of membership in religious groups include Liberia and Malawi each at 90%; Ghana, 88%; Nigeria, 83%; and Uganda with 82.5% of respondents. On the other hand, Lesotho and Cape Verde have relatively lower rates of membership in religious groups with 44% and 41 % respectively.

Interactions between religious associations and the political elite also vary from one country to the other on the continent. In Senegal and Ghana, faith-based organizations do not shy away from political involvements. On the contrary, in Nigeria or in Cote d’Ivoire, religious leaders manage to cultivate a neutral attitude toward the political issues, or they warn outright their flocks against any political involvement. In Senegal, the most powerful religious organization is the Brotherhood of the Morridiya. Cheick Gueye (2001, 109-122) considers this organization as an informal and fluid network of people whose cohesion is rooted in Islamic and some ethnic morals. The linchpin connecting members is a mixture of the Islamic brotherhood and African communal norms. This

grassroots association permeates every aspect of the Senegalese social and economic life. Its social network comes in play during important social events such as in weddings, in christenings, and in burials. The Brotherhood network serves also as job provider. It handles a large swath of trade consisting of a chain of economic agents from micro-financers to producers and to street venders. In addition to its economic role, the Brotherhood constitutes a powerful political tool of mobilization due to its large and loyal members. In Senegal, aspiring politicians and actual political officials from all religious obedience seek the endorsement and “blessings” from the Murid, the head of the organization (Gueye 2001, 119). Similar to Senegal, religious groups in Ghana can be active in local political life. In his comparative study of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, McLean (2004, 589-717) suggests that churches wear multiple hats in Ghana: they provide spiritual as well as material goods to their followers. Churchgoers are members in several other community organizations. This multi-membership expands the chain of solidarity and corroborates the conventional wisdom that overlapping memberships at local level fosters democratic attitudes. More importantly, the religious groups are also connected to local governments in Ghana, thus channeling their members’ preferences to the local elites. Conversely, in Nigeria, spiritual needs take precedence and mega churches rather stay away from any political involvement. For instance, according to Yomi Oruwari (2001, 77-89), the church of Port Harcourt graciously provides it members with welfare, health care, and housing services, but it sternly forbids them from any political activity. Another communality among mega churches in Nigeria is that they are solid and profitable business ventures where believers are exalted to give generously because “God loves cheerful givers” (Oruwari 2001, 87).

Religious groups show their vitality through gender-based organizations elsewhere beyond the twenty countries covered in Afrobarometer Round 4. One illustration is the Swaziland

Women’s Burial Society. According to Miranda Miles (2001, 62-75) Swazi women unite to overcome their social and economic vulnerability. Having migrated from poverty stricken rural areas, most of these women find themselves exposed to harsh living conditions in cities. To overcome these hardships, members of the Burial society create church-based organizations with multiple functions (62). Usually, these associations provide a social comfort, a religious training, and more importantly a mutual material assistance when death strikes; hence their name of Burial Society. But the functions these associations play go far beyond a mere burial assistance. For instance, the Burial Society in Swaziland promotes rotating credits among its members. Also, because the majority of these women are domestic workers, they take advantage of their work in the houses of the political elite to convey the concerns of group members (Miles, 2001, 69). In sum, religious groups play more than a spiritual role; they play also and more often social, economic as well as political roles.

2.2.1.2.Civic Voluntary Groups.

Like religious groups, the size and rate of membership in these civic voluntary and community development associations vary from one country to another on the continent. At the top of the scale, Mali comes first with 64% of those surveyed claiming a membership in a civic voluntary or community development association; Liberia comes in second with 57%, followed by Kenya 54%, Senegal 48% and Malawi 44%. At the bottom of the scales are Zimbabwe (21%) and Madagascar (18%) in the Afrobarometer round 4. Although Afrobarometer does not specify the types and structural levels of these voluntary civic groups and community development groups,

conventional wisdom categorizes them as mostly informal with the

exceptions of cooperatives. Even so, most of these cooperatives were disbanded or incorporated in the political parties (Landell Mill 1992,123). In addition, few if any of these cooperatives are

registered. So, for practical purposes, these entities will be considered as structurally informal grassroots associations.

The takeaway from these succinct descriptions of a widespread and some say vibrant African associational life is as follows. First, these organizations are informal, autonomous, and may or may not be hierarchical. Second, they are located in rural as well as urban areas with rural areas having slightly more active members (16%) than do city dwellers (11%). Third, membership in these associations vary. It can be inclusive or exclusive, favoring ethnic homogeneity (in Ghana) or ethnic heterogeneity (in Cote d’Ivoire). Furthermore, these grassroots associations display a considerable degree of overlapping membership. For instance, in the 36 countries surveyed in the Afrobarometer round 6, on average, 35.9% of active members in community development associations are actively involved in religious organizations; 25.8% of the leadership in community development occupy official positions in Churches and Mosques( Afrobarometer online analysis). Fourth and perhaps most importantly, these organizations provide a safe place for their members to air grievances and are connected formally or informally to local and national representatives (Boyte and Evans,1986)

Table2.1: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF ASSOCIATIONAL MEMBERSHIP (Afrobarometer Round 4)

Statistics Types of Associations

Religious Associations Civic Associations

Min 42. (Cape Verde) 8.9 Zimbabwe

Average 72.5 26

Max 49.2 (Kenya)