The Angolan Apocalypse

Abstract

In this article I explore some convergences between religious and political apocalyptic thinking, taking as case study the inauguration of the cathedral of the ‘Tokoist Church’ in Luanda, Angola, in August 2012. Describing the marginal contestation to the otherwise triumphant current church leadership, I argue that it is part of a movement of social fracture and political contestation that is also part of contemporary, post-war Angolan society, and also suggest that apocalyptic thinking can be understood as an expression of political dissent and of a ‘transformative politics’ that postulates alternative temporalities.