Class Formation and the Professionalization of an African Clergy

There is a painting, reproduced by many artists, that enjoys a certain popularity in Zaire. It depicts a young man who, while cutting down a tree on a riverbank, is approached by a lion. He climbs the tree to escape, only to encounter in the branches above him a python. Turning to jump into the river he is confronted with a crocodile. In a precarious situation, up in a nearly severed tree with danger on all sides, there seems to be no escape for him. That the painting enjoys such popularity, hanging in homes, little roadside restaurants, and bars, is not surprising in that it captures the experience of so many people in Zaire. Even those with a fair amount of education, who could be expected to have benefited most from a system of rewards, generally experience the same thing. It is this class of people, those who have aspired toward professional positions as school teachers, medical assistants, clerical workers, and church pastors, who are most vocal in expressing their discontent. For most of them inflation has eroded the economic rewards

Aesthetics · African studies · Anthropology of religion · Art · Art history · Class (philosophy) · Crocodile · Epistemology · Family tree · Genealogy · History of religions · Painting · Political science · Popularity · Professionalization · Social science · Sociology · African history and culture studies · Ecology · Gender Studies · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History · Law · Philosophy · Religious studies