Joseph Chita

• University of Zambia

Turning blind, learning to live with a disability and negotiating one’s space in the world of the sighted men were not the only problems that confronted Thomas Mtonga, but living blind, sharing the spaces with the sighed and standing to be counted among them. As the saying goes, ‘there is a story behind every person and that there is a reason why t...

Using the works of a women-led organization active in the area of gender violence in Zambia, this chapter explores how women-led initiatives are addressing gender-based violence against women in Zambia. The chapter draws on the involvement of Women for Change (WfC), a non-governmental organization with over 25 years of experience in gender-oriented...

Discourses on peacebuilding in Zambia revolve around the country’s contributions to the liberation struggles, hosting of refugees, and engagement in peacekeeping missions. The narratives of individuals who contributed to the country’s role in peacebuilding remained obscured in national discourses on peacebuilding and development in contemporary tim...

Although COVID-19 changed different aspects of religious life as depicted in Zambia􏰁􏰂 p􏰃blic 􏰂phe􏰄e, 􏰅he􏰄e 􏰆a􏰂 li􏰅􏰅le scholarly engagement with the interplay between worship and the stay home campaign measure implemented to curb the spread of COVID-19. Using the example of the Archdiocese of Lusaka (in Zambia), this chapter engages with Catholic wo...

Introduction On October 28, 2014, the President of the Republic of Zambia and leader of the Patriotic Front (PF) party, Michael Sata died in a London hospital one year before finishing his first term of office. The Zambian Constitution stipulates that within ninety days, a by-election must be held to choose a new president. Thus, in January 2015, t...

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religious Education in the Global South presents new comparative perspectives on Religious Education (RE) across the global south. Including 24 chapters written by scholars from the Global North and South, this is the first authoritative reference work on the subject. The handbook is thematically organised into eight sect...

Amidst calls for the adoption of indigenous foods for the promotion of nutritional and healthy lifestyle in the context of fast foods in urban areas, there was a growing popularity of discourses on the indigenous knowledge of Zambian foods in the media. Despite this, the contributions of women to these discourses were obscured in the wider web of t...

This chapter discusses the discourse on the commercialisation of lobola and the implications on Zambian women using cultural hybridisation as a lens. It draws on insights from a descriptive case study in which documents and interviews were the main data collection methods. The chapter shows that public discourse on lobola is centred on the debate o...

In this chapter, HIV and AIDS education for learners in Catholic schools was interrogated from a social justice perspective. The author advances the argument that the learners' right to access HIV and AIDS education in the school context was superficial in addressing the needs of learners. Hence, depriving them of the much needed knowledge, skills,...

Although Catholic missionary historians have contributed to the writing of Zambia’s many histories, the attempt at documenting women’s place in religio-cultural history in the country has been overshadowed by the prominence of masculine histories. Using the example of Hugo Hinfelaar who captures women’s histories in his scholarly work, this article...

The 2017/18 Cholera epidemic sparked religious conversations that had not yet received scholarly engagement. Informed by the Catholic social theory, the article explored the Catholic Church’s positionality in the face of an epidemic. The article’s objectives were twofold: firstly, to describe the actions of the Catholic Church during the 2017/18 Ch...

Religious texts are important for believers and this is true of the Christian faith where the Bible is taken as an inspired and holy word of God. The challenge for biblical scholars, theologians, environmentalists, ecologists and biblical readers would be the use of morally challenging biblical examples in the proclamation of the kingdom. Texts tha...

The study interrogates the concept of “cleaning the nation spiritually” as a catchy phrase in the Ministry of National Guidance and Religious Affairs’ (MNGRA) search for national moral order in Zambia. This study focuses specifically on MNGRA responses on sexual and gender minorities, sex toys and South African panty-less dancer, Zodwa Wabantu, to...

This article focuses on the biography of a missionary teacher (Thomas McGivern) who has contributed to the development of Zambian religious education (RE). It uses a qualitative case study design to capture and understand the unique position and contributions of the missionary and teacher to Zambian RE. The article argues that McGivern’s aspiration...

Using the example of a public university in Zambia, the chapter explores how students responded to new modes of programme delivery in the context of Higher Education institutional closures and COVID-19. It draws on the technology acceptance theoretical framework and an interpretative case study, which was informed by the thematic analysis of docume...

This chapter reflects on the role of Jewish migrants in the economic de- velopment of Zambia in the period between 1900 and the 1960s. The chapter hopes to demonstrate how Jews contributed to the economic de- velopment of Zambia. “Making Zambia” in this study is spoken of in terms of contributing to what became of the country before and after in- d...

The Chapter grapples with the notion of the sacred in a public space, with reference to the Nc'wala traditional ceremony of the Ngoni people in Eastern Zambia. Nc'wala ceremony which is one of the oldest and culturally rich ceremonies in the country, has been invaded by politicians and businesspersons who have turned it into a campaign stage and sp...

The strides to historicise Pentecostalism in Zambia have attempted to account for the growth of Pentecostal and charismatic churches without delving into the prominent features of Pentecostalism that have been popularised over time. One such characteristic is the "spiritual voice" that has been associated with the Pentecostal "Men of God" (clergy)...

The research was aimed at establishing how Islam was taught. A historical inquiry complemented by thematic analysis of the phenomena helped in drawing meanings and inferences. Findings revealed that Islam was descriptively taught (indefinite model) through lecture methods, alongside having (occasional) guest speakers. I argue that while the content...

The article investigated the rising trend that has not received attention in Zambian scholarship of institutions that started as theological institutions transforming or shifting from the provision of theology only to other disciplines to meet the growing demand for higher education. Using the United Church of Zambia University College (UCZUC) as a...

This chapter, HIV and AIDS education for learners in Catholic schools was interrogated from a social justice perspective. The author advances the argument that the learners' right to access HIV and AIDS education in the school context was superficial in addressing the needs of learners. Hence, depriving them of the much needed knowledge, skills, an...

This paper focuses on the biography of a missionary teacher (Thomas McGivern) who has contributed to the development of Zambian Religious Education (RE). It employs a qualitative case study design to capture and understand the unique position and contributions of the missionary and teacher to Zambian RE. The paper argues that McGivern's aspirations...

Zambia has recently witnessed the growth of Pentecostal churches that publicly claim to be healing disabilities. This paper explored how some Pentecostal churches in Zambia’s pluralist society claimed to be healing disability. Interviews, documents and video recordings from three different Pentecostal ministries depicting healing and disability wer...

Zambia has recently witnessed the growth of Pentecostal churches that publicly make the claim of being able to heal disabilities. This paper explores how some Pentecostal churches in Zambia's pluralist society claim to be healing disability. Interviews, documents and video recordings from three different Pentecostal ministries depicting healing and...

Education in East and Central Africa is a comprehensive critical reference guide to education in the region. With chapters written by an international team of leading regional education experts, the book explores the education systems of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Angola, Burundi, the Central...

This article sheds light on the factors that contributed to the development of ‘multifaith’ Religious Education (RE) in Zambia after 1964. Our analysis makes a contribution to the discourse on inter-religious RE in Zambia by demonstrating how Zambia became a multifaith society, a context in which political statements and ideologies have influenced...