Abstract:
Drawing on ethnographic research in Zimbabwe, this article examines the ways
through which a new Pentecostal-Charismatic Church (PCC), Good Life Church
(GLC), engages in charity and redistributive activities in Harare. From the mid2000s, there has been a remarkable Pentecostal explosion in Zimbabwe. This explosion coincided with a protracted socio-economic and political crisis. This crisis
was marked by deepening poverty, skyrocketing unemployment, hyperinflation,
and the withdrawal of state welfare. This was worsened by rapid emigration, which
dismembered kinship-based social safety nets. In response, new PCCs emerged as
new and alternative spaces of welfare provision, redistribution and social security. I
argue that GLC’s engagement in acts of charity should be understood in the broader
discourse of spiritual warfare against the demons of poverty. By addressing “thisworldly” concerns, GLC makes a holistic contribution to sustainable development
by attending to the spiritual and material needs of people. Indeed, a culture of
giving is cultivated and habituated in everyday life and practices in the church. I
assert that acts of individual and collective charity provision enable many people to
navigate uncertainties and precarities wrought by the postcolonial economic crisis.
This article draws on Bourdieu’s theory of practice, and particularly his concepts
of field, habitus and forms of anticipation to unpack the acts of charity in GLC.
A specific kind of Pentecostal habitus is (re)produced through teachings, rituals,
socialities and convivialities forged within the church.
