On desirous Pentecostalism in African cities

ABSTRACT This article invokes the ‘sociology of desire' to examine how Pentecostal imaginations, faith, fantasy, and promises relate to African urbanites' visions and experiences of life in the city. This study draws on long-term ethnographic fieldwork in two African cities, Pretoria and Lagos. Connecting the notion of ‘desirous Pentecostalism' with that of ‘aspirational urbanism', this study argues that the Pentecostal promise—enshrined in the Word and attendant practices of faith, prayer, and fellowship—plays a significant role in the cultural, economic, spatial, and political practices of Africans in the city. Pentecostalism is intertwined with the reproduction of the aspirations and practices of African urbanites, encompassing both illusory and real-world experiences of life in African cities. This augurs with understandings and readings of the African city as a hub for future urbanism, not only for its inhabitants but also for the global imaginations of urban futures.