The Soft Voice of Activism. Christian Lobbying and Reform in the Fields of Sexual Rights and Domestic Violence in Botswana and South Africa

以博茨瓦纳和南非的基督教组织的宗教政治活动为切入点进行人种学分析，这个人类学项目探讨了宗教政治活动的两种模式之间的关系，即“游说”和“改革”。比较这些模式提供了重要的见解宗教政治活动的形式，有不同的受众和“方向”的沟通。正如本项目所理解的，游说的特点是“自下而上”的方法（即公民试图影响政治决策者）;另一方面，改革遵循“自上而下”的方法（即“改革”的积极分子试图影响“尚未改革”的普通公民）。更具体地说，该项目探讨了反对性少数群体权利的宗教政治活动（博茨瓦纳分项目）和反对对妇女的性暴力行为的活动（南非分项目）。这预示着重要的见解，非洲的基督教组织目前如何进入一个新的阶段，公民（通常是：保守）参与，因为他们建立在以前的宗教政治形式，因为他们是跨国流通话语的影响，因为他们塑造这个大陆的未来发展。在这样做的过程中，本项目的发现和理论观点有望提供新的概念分析：（a）行动主义的“软”模式，（B）“说服性语言”在行动主义者试图影响社会世界变革中的作用，（c）保守而非革命的行动主义形式，以及（d）宗教和政治领域之间新出现的互动和交叉。

Taking religio-political activism by Christian organizations in Botswana and South Africa as the entry-point for an ethnographic analysis, this anthropological project explores the relationship between two modalities of religio-political activism, namely 'lobbying' and 'reform'. Comparing these modalities provides important insights into forms of religio-political activism that have different audiences and 'directions' of communication. As understood in this project, lobbying is characterized by a 'bottom-up' approach (i.e. citizens trying to influence political decision-makers); reform, on the other hand, follows a 'top-down' approach (i.e. 'reformed' activists trying to influence 'not-yet-reformed' ordinary citizens). More particularly, the project explores religio-political activism against rights for sexual minorities (sub-project Botswana) and activism against sexual violence committed against women (sub-project South Africa). This promises important insights into how Christian organizations in Africa are presently entering a new phase of civic (often: conservative) engagement as they build on previous forms of religious politicking, as they are influenced by transnationally circulating discourses, and as they shape future developments on this continent. In doing so, the findings of, and theoretical perspectives developed in, this project promise to offer new conceptual analyses of (a) 'soft' modalities of activism, (b) the role of 'languages of persuasiveness' in the activists' attempts to effect transformations in the social world, (c) forms of activism that are rather conservative than revolutionary, and (d) newly emerging interactions and intersections between the religious and the political domain.