Recognizing Christianity: How African Immigrants Redefine the European Religious Heritage

Project leader: Dr Ramon Sarró, University of Lisbon (Portugal)

Through an ethnographic analysis of local “politics of recognition”, i.e. how some churches fight for recognition and interact with mainstream Christianity, this project explored the role of religion in African Diasporas and their capacity to help reconfigure the European religious heritage, influence national and regional identities within the continent, and establish connexions between Europe and Africa, but also across Europe.

The project engaged in a comparison of three national settings with a strong African presence (Portugal, United Kingdom and the Netherlands), each with its own colonial past and Christian traditions.