JPR364Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 22: Erectile Dysfunction, Atlantic Slave Trade, High Tech
11 Dec 2014
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Document Summary
1971 defines le sorcellerie (witchcraft/sorcery) as something that is not just evil to the people but it also was meant to be something of excitement with the possibility of access to unknown people. Geschiere argues that the problem in africa is that as soon as a new political space opens, it is overrun by rumors about the use of sorcery and witchcraft. Western democracies; the idea that one should have a grip on power and the realization that one rarely can. Witchcraft reflects sharp feelings of impotence that in turn hides the source of real power. The discourse is stretched to incorporate new inequalities, which requires a dynamic use the notions of both witchcraft and kinship. While witchcraft is related to the accumulation of power but can also serve to undermine it. Witchcraft is both a resource for the powerful and also a weapon for the weak against new inequalities.
