Pentecostalism, ontological (in)security and the everyday lives of international university students in South Africa

ABSTRACT

The experience and lives of international university students studying and living in Cape Town, South Africa demonstrate the centrality of religiosity, in their case Pentecostalism in adapting to and grappling with existential perturbations wrought in a xenophobic and hostile environment. This article explores the everyday appropriation of Pentecostal religiosity and rituals by international students in navigating uncertainties and everyday anxieties and struggles of studying and living in a foreign and alienating space. Studying the mundane forms of the everyday has gained traction since Michel de Certeau’s pioneering works on the practice of everyday life. This article is based on an ethnographic study conducted with international university students to understand how Pentecostalism mediates their daily life and experiences and what it means to live and study at a foreign university. I show how Pentecostal Charismatic Churhces (PCCs) not only cater for the existential material needs of migrant students on campus, but also provide space for integration and forging convivial relationships and belonging. I argue that a Pentecostal identity and being connects and creates a sense of ontological security that pervades Pentecostal students’ everyday life.

KEYWORDS:

• Pentecostalism
• ontological (in)security
• university students
• Cape Town

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. For Lee (2017) neonationalism refers to a new nationalism based national order in the new global economy.

2. Makwerekwere is a derogatory term or label given to black Africans of foreign/immigrant origin living and working in South Africa and lacking the linguistic capital of any local language.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Simbarashe Gukurume

Simbarashe Gukurume is a Social Scientist working at the intersections of Sociology and Social Anthropology and lectures at Sol Plaatje University in the Department of Social Sciences (Sociology). Simbarashe is also a Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg, Department of Anthropology and Development Studies. Simbarashe is interested in questions around youth, informality, livelihoods, displacement, money, religiosity and other forms of youth everyday lives, Simbarashe has been a recipient of the Matasa Network Fellowship award, IDS (University of Sussex), the Harry Frank Guggenheim Young African Scholars award, the SSRC Research award, the African Peace Building Network (APN) individual grant, and the Academy for African Urban Diversity (AAUD) award among other awards.