Powered by Faith: Pentecostal Businesswomen in Harare

This book investigates the impact of Pentecostalism on the participation of women in business in Harare Zimbabwe. Chapters in this volume trace the history of womens participation in business and highlight how Pentecostalism serves as a major motivating factor. The central argument is that there is a way in which selected womens businesses are powered by the Spirit. Contributors to the volume utilize case studies of selected Pentecostal churches and ministries to highlight how the religious ideologies of these churches galvanize them to engage in business. They also draw patterns of similarity and difference across the different Pentecostal churches. The volume demonstrates how Pentecostalism both facilitates and militates against womens participation in business concerning a specific setting in Zimbabwe. This is an unparalleled ground-breaking book that makes visible how despite challenges women in Pentecostal churches powered by faith have broken the yoke of femininity of entrapment and adopted femininity of self-invention that lands them in entrepreneurship. The book is an important resource for scholars students and professionals interested in religion gender and economics. --Nisbert Taisekwa Taringa Professor of Religious Studies and Fulbright Alumni University of Zimbabwe Tapiwa Praise Mapuranga is an associate professor in religion and gender in the Department of Religious Studies Classics and Philosophy at the University of Zimbabwe. She has published widely in the areas of gender and sexuality politics music and gender-based violence as each relates to religion. She has received a number of research grants and is a member of various academic societies.