Description
Book SynopsisInvisible Agents shows how personal and deeply felt spiritual beliefs can inspire social movements and influence historical change. Conventional historiography concentrates on the secular, materialist, or moral sources of political agency.
Trade Review“Despite the enormous richness of the literature on the history of religion in Africa, I can think of no other book which brings the insights of that literature to bear so directly and convincingly to the interpretation of modern political history.… This is a great book.”
“
Invisible Agents makes a major contribution to African historical scholarship….” * American Historical Review *
“David Gordon makes a vital contribution to the history of religion and politics in Africa by taking seriously the idea that spirits have agency in the world of the living…. (T)he impact of this book will likely be quite visible.” * International Journal of African Historical Studies *
“(
Invisible Agents) clearly shows: there never was a ‘secular’ that was not contested and disturbed by spirits.” * H-Soz-u-Kult *
“Anyone interested in Christianity or spirituality in Africa should read this book. Summing Up: Highly recommended.” * Choice *
“(
Invisible Agents) will be of interest not just to students of African history, but to those studying political imagination and its relationship to movement building.” * Book News *
“David Gordon’s avowedly postsecular book places spirits right at the center of the story, and by doing so Gordon brings us closer than we have ever been before to sources of thought and inspiration that guided Africans’ actions in the political world.” * University of Michigan *
