Christian mind and worldly matters - Religion and materiality in nineteenth-century Gold Coast

Journal/Book: J Mat Cult. 1997; 2: 6 Bonhill Street, London, England EC2A 4PU. Sage Publications Ltd. 311-337.

Abstract: In anthropological studies of the impact of missions in the non-Western world, Protestant missions' alleged claim that material matters were just 'outward things' subordinate to 'inward faith' has eschewed closer examination. This paper investigates a 19th-century German Protestant mission's actual and alleged attitudes towards materiality under the conditions of colonialism among the Ewe, as well as the tensions arising between missionaries and African converts about the role of materiality in life in general and consumption in particular. Examining the role missionary materializations played in conversion processes and investigating tensions between missionaries and converts about the proper relationship between 'civilization' and 'salvation', the paper shows that so-called worldly matters mattered much more than Protestant missionary rhetorics were prepared to acknowledge. Missions played a crucial role not only in the 'development' of the colony but also in the making of modern consumers. Tensions between missionaries and Ewe converts reveal that actually Christian identity itself was to a large extent produced through the consumption of Western commodities.

Note: Article Meyer B, Univ Amsterdam, Res Ctr Relig & Soc, Oudezijds Achterburgwal 185, NL-1012 Dk Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS

Keyword(s): colonial mission; consumption and religion; Ewe; Gold Coast

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