The social impact of religious communities : the case of the Huguenots in South Africa

This paper takes a brief look at the history of the Huguenots in South Africa as an example of the social impact of religious communities. Arnold van Gennep and Victor turner’s theory of liminality is utilised to structure the paper as a discussion of three phases of history, namely separation, liminality, and aggregation. The paper concludes with some remarks concerning the relationship between power and religion.