Witchcraft, Violence, and Democracy in South Africa - Couverture souple

Ashforth, Adam

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0226029743 ISBN 13 : 9780226029740

Editeur : University of Chicago Press, 2005

Synopsis

How does democracy fare when the people governed insist they live in a world with witches? If the government of a people afflicted by witchcraft refuses to punish witches, how does it avoid becoming alienated from the perceived needs of its people or, worse, seen as being in league with witches? In Soweto, South Africa, the constant threat of violent crime, the increase in black socio-economic inequality, the AIDS pandemic, and a widespread fear of witchcraft have converged to create a pervasive sense of insecurity among citizens and a unique public policy problem for government.

In Witchcraft, Violence, and Democracy in South Africa, Adam Ashforth examines how people in Soweto and other parts of post-apartheid South Africa manage their fear of 'evil forces' such as witchcraft. Ashforth examines the dynamics of insecurity in the everyday life of Soweto at the turn of the twenty-first century. He develops a new framework for understanding occult violence as a form of spiritual insecurity and documents new patterns of interpretation attributing agency to evil forces. Finally, he analyzes the response of post-apartheid governments to issues of spiritual insecurity and suggests how these matters pose severe long-term challenges to the legitimacy of the democratic state.

A propos du livre

À propos de l?auteur

Adam Ashforth is professor of Afroamerican and African studies at the University of Michigan. He is the author of Madumo: A Man Bewitched and Witchcraft, Violence, and Democracy in South Africa, both published by the University of Chicago Press.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: University of Chicago Press
• Date d'édition: 2005
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0226029743
• ISBN 13: 9780226029740
• Reliure: Broché
• Numéro d'édition: 1
• Nombre de pages: 424
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible