Scholar of the Month

“AASR conferences were a welcome opportunity to connect with other researchers and keep in touch with the latest developments in scholarship.”

Those are the words of Dr Johanneke Kroesbergen, AASR Scholar of the Month. In this episode, Johanneke Kroesbergen of the University of Amsterdam takes us through her inspiring journey as a religious scholar.

Johanneke: I grew up in Germany, where my parents have lived for over 50 years, but I am Dutch. Religion, folklore, and mythology have always fascinated me, so I decided to study religious studies in Groningen. There, I met my husband-to-be Hermen Kroesbergen, who studied theology and philosophy of religion at the same faculty. As a student, I was interested in new religious movements and alternative forms of spirituality such as Neo-Paganism and Wicca. My anthropological interest in lived experiences and Hermen’s philosophical musings complement each other and generate a cross-fertilization in our works.

In 2011, Hermen and I were appointed as lecturers at Justo Mwale University in Lusaka, Zambia. It was a jump into the unknown as we had never been to Africa, but we never regretted the move. We loved discovering the world of our students. As we shared a job, this allowed me to work on my dissertation. Given my interest in contemporary and new forms of religion, I searched for intriguing and recent religious phenomena in Zambia. I was struck by the many stories about Satanism I encountered in newspapers, conversations with students, and during church functions. Could this be a new religious movement? Would it be related to satanic groups in Europe and the United States?

Ultimately, my knowledge of alternative spiritualities did very little to help me understand the phenomenon of Satanism in Zambia. Instead, a new and interesting academic field opened up for me and I became a scholar of African Christianity and conceptualizations of evil. I defended my PhD thesis with Prof. Dr. Birgit Meyer at Utrecht University in 2018. Today, I work as a lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Amsterdam.

Tell us a little about your recently published book.

Speaking of Satan in Zambia: Making cultural and personal sense of narratives about Satanism is an expanded and reworked version of my dissertation. In it, I discuss Satanism as an African phenomenon that has nothing to do with Western alternative religions such as the Church of Satan. In Zambia, ex-Satanists confess in churches that they have been agents of the devil, causing harm by inducing illnesses, making road accidents happen, or distributing goods tainted with satanic influences. These stories make cultural sense because they are linked to traditional African notions such as witchcraft and possession, but also resonate with contemporary Christian practices, in particular those inspired by spiritual warfare theologies.

For the people who share stories about Satanism or who come to hear confessions of ex-Satanists, the testimonies are linked to an unease regarding changes in society. For the ex-Satanists themselves, the diagnosis of Satanism makes personal sense as an explanation for a feeling of not belonging and an explanation of negative events in the life history. For the pastors who provide a platform to the ex-Satanists and who are involved in the diagnosis of Satanism, the narratives are evidence of their power as men of God and their spiritual warfare theology.

The book has been published in open access by AOSIS and is available here: https://aosis.co.za/portfolio/making-cultural-and-personal-sense-of-narratives-about-satanism/

Question: In what ways do you think your research addresses societal challenges?

How do you deal with it when things go wrong or not as planned? In many cultures and societies, the actions of forces of evil are contemplated to give meaning to misfortune. This evil may be personified as witches, Satanists, or evil elites. The stories used about these personifications of evil are often strikingly similar. They are an inversion of all that we hold sacred. Instead of caring for children, they harm them. They are cannibals and commit unspeakable sexual acts. Whether it’s the Satanists whose narratives I have researched, African witches, or the alleged conspiracists the Pizza-gate attacker wanted to reveal, they all share the same characteristics.

To me, this means that these stories express our deepest fears. Some of these stories may be true – there are sick, evil, deranged people who do terrible things. But I think it is important to be aware that stories like these are shared and become popular because they are too good not to be true. We want them to be true more than they really are true. This is a message I want to convey in my research and to my students, both in Africa and in the Netherlands. Suppose you hear about a conspiracy that involves people who structurally or ritually abuse children, drink blood, have weird sexual habits, or eat things that we would consider inedible. In that case, alarm bells should go off in your head. If you hear someone say, “They’re eating the dogs,” this may be a story that is not about reality but about our fears.

Question: How do you see your career/research develop and evolve in the future?

At the moment I have a teaching-only job. I hope to find some time to research migrant churches in the Netherlands. Coming back to the Netherlands after living in Africa for over 9 years, the extent to which the Netherlands is secularized struck me. I am curious how this secular context is present in the theologies of African migrant churches in the Netherlands. At the same time, I love teaching and thinking about curriculum development. I hope to be able to grow in this field as well.

It is my dream to, one day, combine research with my love of photography. As a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pretoria, I was planning to travel to Zambia and interview and photograph pastors in Zambia. Because of the pandemic, I’ve never been able to do this and investigated religious coping in sermons instead. Looking at the AASR website and seeing many photos I took during the conference in Lusaka in 2018 inspires me to take this up again. 

Question: From your experience now, what advice would you give to your younger self?

As an introvert, I’ve struggled with insecurity and anxiety in social situations. This is something I recognized in the testimonies of ex-Satanists as well. They often describe themselves as feeling like they don’t belong or preferring to be alone instead of having many friends. I would encourage myself and anyone who experiences this that you are fine as you are. Maybe you’re not a talker; that doesn’t mean you are inferior as a person, a friend, a partner, or an employee. You have other skills. Let them shine and people will recognize you for who you are. And you are most definitely not evil just because you are different.

Question: What role has the AASR played in your career growth?

While we were staying in Africa, the AASR conferences were a welcome opportunity to connect with other researchers and keep in touch with the latest developments in scholarship. The relationships forged in those years are still important to me now that I am back in the Netherlands.

Question: Tell us the challenge(s) you encountered in your career and how you surmounted them. What lessons did you learn?

My parents were worried when I wanted to study religious studies because they thought I would be unemployed after graduating. They were right that it was difficult to find a job in religious studies. When I didn’t manage to secure a PhD position, I decided to look elsewhere and found a career in a research agency for the government. I’m happy that I was able to find satisfaction in the many different things I did after graduation, even though they were not related to my main interest, religion. I think the lesson here is – if your character allows it – be humble and count your blessings instead of pining for the goals you did not reach.