Agents of Social Change

This book goes where no other work has gone. It refuses to conform to the conventional descriptions of the realities of widows in Africa. Thus, rather than approach the issue of widowhood from the vantage point of what society can do for widows, the book considers what widows can do for society. Christian widows in northern Nigeria are defying the restrictions assigned to their widowhood. Remarriage and property inheritance, for instance, are not central to widows' ambitions. Widows believe that they are not passive observers within society, rather, they are agents of social change. Therefore, they are drawing from their faith in religious, social, and economic engagements towards societal transformation. Of the institutions that influence their lives, Christian institutions provide the best guide for the embodied agency of Christian widows in northern Nigeria. The theory of embodiment considers the ways Christian widows emulate the life of Jesus towards remaking society.

Auteur

Sung H. Bauta was visiting lecturer at Jos ECWA Theological Seminary (JETS), Nigeria, for ten years. He was also instructor in Bible and ministry at Central Christian College of the Bible, Moberly, Missouri. He is the author of several peer-reviewed articles on theology and missions as well as opinion articles on Nigerian politics. He is currently the senior pastor at Milan Christian Church, Milan, Missouri.