IP0303 “God Told Me To Colonise You”: The U.S. Christian Right’s New War on Africa (w/ Haley McEwen, PhD)

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Content note: This episode discusses misogynistic and queermisic legislation, language, and movements. If you’re unable to engage with these topics right now, you are welcome to skip this episode or come back to it when you feel better resourced.  

What do glossy pamphlets, moral panic, and abstinence-only sex ed have in common? They’re all part of the U.S. Christian Right’s campaign to export “pro-family” politics to Africa — and it’s causing real harm. In this episode, we expose how conservative religious groups from the Global North are funding anti-LGBTQIA+ laws, sabotaging reproductive rights, and co-opting decolonial language to disguise a new kind of moral imperialism.

Sociology postdoctoral researcher and author Haley McEwen joins us to discuss the USA and African pro-family movements. We dig into who these groups are, how they operate, and what it takes to resist their growing influence — all through a trans-inclusive, African-centred lens.

Connect with Haley

🌐 https://www.linkedin.com/in/haley-mcewen-73999543/
🎬 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86BTvFWoDFE

Buy Haley’s book in print or eBook format

📗 https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-46653-3
📕 https://www.takealot.com/the-u-s-christian-right-and-pro-family-politics-in-21st-century-/PLID93983844

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⏳ Chapter Timestamps

00:00:00 Land acknowledgement
00:00:28 Title credits
00:00:58 Welcome and introduction
00:02:37 About the work of Dr Haley McEwen
00:04:28 Exporting “Eden”: God, guns, and glossy pamphlets in Africa
00:16:38 Not your Mama’s family values: The dark politics behind the “pro-family” agenda
00:25:36 The Gospel according to Gaslight: How the Christian Right twists decolonial rhetoric
00:46:14 Power, protest, and possibility: Resisting the Christian Right’s global agenda
00:58:12 End credits

Contribute to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund: https://www.pcrf.net/

📌 References

McEwen, H. (2023) The U.S. Christian Right and Pro-Family Politics in 21st Century Africa. Palgrave Macmillan.
Pontsho Pilane, investigative journalist, author, and advocacy manager. https://mg.co.za/author/pontsho-pilane/
Rev. Dr Kapya John Kaoma, theologian and researcher. https://thebtscenter.org/rev-dr-kapya-john-kaoma/
Prof. Jeff Sharlet, author, journalist, and academic. https://english.dartmouth.edu/people/jeff-sharlet

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