WILD RELIGION, tracking the sacred in South Africa

259pp., paperback, Berkeley, 2012

Chidester situates South Africa's recent political history, from 2004 to the 2010 World Cup, in the context of religious diversity and demonstrates how the recovery of indigenous religion has provided the spiritual dimension of an African Renaissance.

"This book offers us a wild, exhilarating ride. In rethinking the sacred in South African history, Chidester throws searing light on the dangerous, creative force of religion untamed, religion that flourishes well beyond the confines of formal, domesticated faith. In so doing, he expands our understanding of the place of spirituality in processes of world-making - not merely in Africa, but everywhere." Jean Comaroff, author of Millennial Capitalism and Culture of Neoliberalism

David Chidester is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Cape Town. He is the author of Savage Systems: colonialism and comparative religion in southern Africa.