The Modernity of Witchcraft: Politics and the Occult in Postcolonial Africa

Sanders, Todd; Geschiere, Peter

doi:10.2307/1581626

Cited by 142 publications

(34 citation statements)

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“…Such accusations occurred against a narrative of egalitarianism that rendered both social and economic life at the kijiweni a zero-sum equation (cf. Sanders 2006: 170) in which one individual's achievement was assumed to diminish the others’ chances of success. Thus, when the shoe vendors suggested that a colleague's performance in the market had been enhanced by the illicit use of uchawi , they were commenting not only on his ‘magically’ mediated relation to the market, but also on his relationship to them.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Anthropological research on witchcraft, magic and sorcery in African contexts has produced a vast corpus of literature dealing with such diverse theoretical matters as the cultural construction of rationality (Evans-Pritchard 1965; 1978; Heinz 1997; Horton 1967; 1993; Kapferer 2003; Tambiah 1984) and, more recently, witchcraft discourses in relation to social, material and cultural changes following ‘modernization’ and ‘globalization’ (Comaroff and Comaroff 1993; 1999; Geschiere 1997; Green and Mesaki 2005; Sanders 2003; 2006).…”

Section: The Micro-politics Of Sociality At the Kijiwenimentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 2 For a discussion of the problem of defining the term ‘witchcraft’, with all its connotations of various phenomena and concepts in Africa and elsewhere, see Moore and Sanders (2006: 3–6). In order to avoid subsuming the ideas and phenomena I describe here under the English term ‘witchcraft’, which refers to a European historical experience and not to contemporary African realities, I use the Swahili term uchawi when referring to my area of study and ‘witchcraft’ to refer to the literature covering similar phenomena in other parts of Africa. …”

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confidence: 99%

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Gridlocked in the city: kinship and witchcraft among Wayao street vendors in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Malefakis¹

2018

Africa

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For a group of Wayao street vendors in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, kinship relations were simultaneously an advantage and a hindrance. Their migration to the city and entry into the urban economy had occurred along ethnic and kinship lines. But, as they perceived the socially heterogeneous environment of the city that potentially offered them opportunities to cooperate with people from different social or ethnic backgrounds, they experienced their continuing dependency on their relatives as a form of confinement. Against the backdrop of the city, the Wayao perceived their social relations as being burdened with an inescapable sameness that made it impossible to trust one another. Mistrust, contempt and mutual suspicion were the flip side of close social relations and culminated in accusations ofuchawi(Swahili: witchcraft). However, these accusations did not have a disintegrative effect; paradoxically, their impact on social relations among the vendors was integrative. On the one hand,uchawiallegations expressed the claustrophobic feeling of stifling relations; on the other, they compelled the accused to adhere to a shared morality of egalitarian relations and exposed the feeling that the accused individual was worthy of scrutiny, indicating that relationships with him were of particular importance to others.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Micro-politics Of Sociality At the Kijiwenimentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Gridlocked in the city: kinship and witchcraft among Wayao street vendors in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Malefakis¹

2018

Africa

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“…The conversation had 25 responses, all confirming the challenges they have when they use their data bundles from Internet service providers. Such comments can also be understood in the context of Geschiere's (1997) observation that "nowadays modern techniques and commodities, often of Western provenance, are central in rumours on the occult" (p. 2). However, it is important to note that the discussions also draw from discourses of rumour and humour as a way for the community to deal with the precariousness of its economy for, as Bongmba et al (2017) aptly note, witchcraft is also a tool for social diagnosis.…”

Section: Who or What Is Chuma Ulete?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Chuma Ulete as a Popularized Witchcraft Discourse in Small Businesses

Mgumia

2020

Tanzania Journal of Sociology

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This article investigates a particular discourse of witchcraft in Tanzania famously known as Chuma Ulete. Perceived as apractice that involves leaking or stealing wealth mysteriously, it has increasingly become popularized in both mainstream andsocial media within the context of a post-socialist neo-liberal economy. In this article it is conceptualized as the witchcraft ofthe poor as, purportedly, it is generally used to magically steal money from small businesses. Although the concept has receivedlittle attention in the sociological and anthropological literature, it could provide an explanation for some instances of marginal gains in the market economy, and how people make sense of it. The article argues that they do so through invoking, simultaneously or sequentially, religious, traditional, business, and poverty discourses. The concept has also been extended to express exploitation in the market economy, where issues of services and romantic relationships are concerned. As such, thearticle brings to light its definition, characteristics, and how people deal with it.

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“…In addition to business medicines and the marketing and advertising of the occult, within the last couple of decades there has been an increase in Tanzania and several other African countries of rumors and concerns about rapid accumulation of wealth through witchcraft. 27 Many people in Iringa distinguish between the kind of witchcraft used mainly to obstruct the happiness and development of others, and the newer witchcraft of wealth used by witches or people seeking their assistance. The first type of witchcraft is associated mostly with poor people who envy and resent the wellbeing of others, whereas people from any social status can be suspected of using witchcraft of wealth.…”

Section: Occult Economies In Contemporary Tanzaniamentioning

confidence: 99%