# 'Good Muslim, bad Muslim' in Togo: religious minority identity construction amid a sociopolitical crisis (2017-2018)

- **Type:** Journal article
- **Authors:** Frédérick Madore
- **Journal:** The Journal of Modern African Studies
- **Volume:** 59
- **Issue:** 2
- **Publisher:** Cambridge University Press
- **Date:** 2021
- **Pages:** 197-217
- **Language:** English
- **DOI:** [10.1017/S0022278X21000094](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022278X21000094)
- **Countries:** Togo
- **Project:** [Muslim Minorities in Southern Cities of Benin and Togo](https://www.frederickmadore.com/research/muslim-minorities-southern-cities-benin-togo.md)
- **Tags:** Togo, Muslim Identity, Religious Minorities, Sociopolitical Crisis, Identity Construction, Authoritarianism, Securitization, Islam, West Africa
- **Web page:** https://www.frederickmadore.com/publications/good-muslim-bad-muslim-togo-2021

## Reference

Frédérick Madore. (2021). “‘Good Muslim, bad Muslim’ in Togo: religious minority identity construction amid a sociopolitical crisis (2017-2018)”. The Journal of Modern African Studies 59 (2): 197-217. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022278X21000094

## Abstract

In Togo, the opposition movement behind the anti-government protests that broke out in 2017-2018 appears to reflect a greater role for Islam in politics. Tikpi Atchadam, leader of the Parti National Panafricain, was the preeminent figure in the movement, having built a solid grassroots base among his fellow Muslims. This article examines the unique role that Muslim leaders played in these protests, as well as the Faure Gnassingbé regime's strategic response. The ruling party made spurious claims against Muslim opponents, associating them with a dangerous wave of political Islam. I argue that by portraying Atchadam as the leader of a radical ethnic and religious movement with Islamist goals, Faure Gnassingbé and his supporters sought to weaken this emerging challenger and deter members of the public from backing calls for political change. The strategy also helped garner support from Western countries while simultaneously driving a wedge between Muslim community leaders.

## Cited by

- Didik Hariyanto, Ferry Adhi Dharma, Isnaini Rodiyah (2025). [Komodifikasi Agama Dalam Politik Identitas](https://press.umsida.ac.id/index.php/umsidapress/article/view/978-623-464-117-2). *Sidoarjo: Universitas Muhammadiyah Sidoarjo Press, 2025*.
- Djamilou Ouro-Agoro (2025). Acteurs et influences de l'instruction arabo-islamique dans une ville du sud-ouest du Togo (Kpalimé) : (1971 à 1992). *In L'interculturel dans l'espace francophone postcolonial : l'éducation et la formation à l'épreuve des crises, edited by Rania Hanafi, Jean-François Bruneaud, and Mamadou Bouna Timera, 103-121. Paris: L'Harmattan, 2025*.
- Abel B.S. Gaiya (2024). [Sahel, Sahara and Savannah (Sahvara): Responses to Uneven Development in West Africa](https://doi.org/10.51483/IJAFRS.4.1.2024.54-86). *International Journal of African Studies 4, no. 1 (2024): 54-86*.
- Kossi Eden Andrews Adandjesso (2023). [L'impossible alternance politique au Togo de 1990 à 2020 : institutions, idées et intérêts dans la reproduction du pouvoir](http://hdl.handle.net/1866/31946). *PhD dissertation, Université de Montréal, 2023*.
- Marius Kothor, Benjamin N. Lawrance (2023). [The History of Togo and the Togolese People](https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.714). *In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023*.
- Nicolette D. Manglos-Weber (2022). [Religious Life in African Societies](https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197608494.013.16). *In The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Africa, edited by R. Sooryamoorthy and Nene Ernest Khalema, 97-116. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022*.
- Vanessa Watters Opalo (2022). [Credit Worthy: Pentecostal Finance in West Africa](https://www.proquest.com/openview/10eaa1c3593da0ae30f6d83521838696/). *PhD dissertation, Northwestern University, 2022*.
- Dorothea E. Schulz (2021). [Studying Muslim Minorities in Subsaharan Africa: Preliminary Remarks](https://doi.org/10.1163/21540993-01202008). *Islamic Africa 12, no. 2 (2021): 173-85*.

## Links

- [Source](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022278X21000094)

## BibTeX

```bibtex
@article{good-muslim-bad-muslim-togo-2021,
    title = {'Good Muslim, bad Muslim' in Togo: religious minority identity construction amid a sociopolitical crisis (2017-2018)},
    author = {Frédérick Madore},
    year = {2021},
    month = jun,
    abstract = {In Togo, the opposition movement behind the anti-government protests that broke out in 2017-2018 appears to reflect a greater role for Islam in politics. Tikpi Atchadam, leader of the Parti National Panafricain, was the preeminent figure in the movement, having built a solid grassroots base among his fellow Muslims. This article examines the unique role that Muslim leaders played in these protests, as well as the Faure Gnassingbé regime's strategic response. The ruling party made spurious claims against Muslim opponents, associating them with a dangerous wave of political Islam. I argue that by portraying Atchadam as the leader of a radical ethnic and religious movement with Islamist goals, Faure Gnassingbé and his supporters sought to weaken this emerging challenger and deter members of the public from backing calls for political change. The strategy also helped garner support from Western countries while simultaneously driving a wedge between Muslim community leaders.},
    doi = {10.1017/S0022278X21000094},
    url = {https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022278X21000094},
    language = {English},
    journal = {The Journal of Modern African Studies},
    volume = {59},
    number = {2},
    pages = {197--217},
    keywords = {Togo, Muslim Identity, Religious Minorities, Sociopolitical Crisis, Identity Construction, Authoritarianism, Securitization, Islam, West Africa}
}
```