Conversion and Identities among Muslim and Christian Youth in Post-Colonial Ivory Coast
In contemporary post-colonial Africa, youths are increasingly articulating new social identities around religious practice, and especially through the emergence of new forms of Christianity and Islam. In many cases the emergence of these new religious movements is marked by the construction of notions of modernity and tradition. On this basis, the goal of this article is to examine the role of youths in the construction of notions of modernity, as well as to understand their religious experience. Based on the case studies of young Muslims and members of New Independent churches in Côte-d’Ivoire, I will, first, examine how religion defines practices and stakes of modernity. I will explore, then, how religion allows youths to negotiate spaces of social legitimacy, in the face of gerontocratic relations of power. The juxtaposition of these cases allows to highlight the specificity of each religious dynamics, the context in which they unfold, as well as the different experiences of modernity that are renewed by these youths.