Imagining tradition and modernity: Ugandan Pentecostals in Los Angeles

As with most variations of Christianity, Pentecostalism is a highly processed form of the religion. Initially conceived at a time of great social and political upheaval in the United States, it was first reworked to reflect those realities. As it was exported around the world it continued to be manipulated to reflect a variety of social, cultural, and political contexts. In an increasingly globalized economy many people migrate to the West, some of whom bring Pentecostalism with them to be reworked yet again in the city of its birth, Los Angeles, California. In this paper I focus on one transnational community of Ugandans in Los Angeles and their experiences with bringing Pentecostalism "home." This study attempts to illustrate how Ugandan Pentecostalism is mediated by the new setting, and how it is reworked and then employed by migrants to ameliorate the difficulties associated with integrating into the host society. Through ethnographic research conducted at Revival Power Ministries (RPM), I demonstrate that the church becomes both the physical and social space where many of the difficulties associated with finding one's place in the transnational setting are worked out. I describe some of the ways in which Pentecostal belief and practice are flexed to facilitate more successful navigation of and emplacement within the complex social stratification of Los Angeles. I argue that this occurs through a somewhat paradoxical imagining of "modernity" and "tradition." Beginning with an analysis of the relationship between RPM and a neighboring immigrant Pentecostal church, I examine the tension that exists between the past and present (traditional and modern), and how the religion is employed by my participants to secure a favorable position within the modern social landscape of Los Angeles. An analysis of women's experiences with empowerment through Pentecostal belief and practice provides yet another lens through which to view this tension as it is encountered and creatively managed in the transnational setting. I identify women as key agents in the work of imagining tradition and modernity. I further argue that my participants utilize the physical and social space of RPM to construct identities built upon Western notions of modernity through application of the gospel of prosperity, and "traditional" notions of Ugandan personhood through the reproduction (re-invention) of ethnicity taking place at church functions. Ultimately, I argue that by flexing the religion in the transnational context, my participants gain discursive control over how the community is perceived, thereby contesting both external and internal marginalizing pressures.