Lecture 19Witchcraft, sorcery and modernity

Witchcraft – Sorcery - Magic

Superstition

Pre-modern

Pre-scientific

Irrational

Tradition

Historical past

Fantasy

Defining witchcraft

• Witchcraft vs. sorcery

• Theory of causation

• Social commentary and expression of moral judgement

• Means of social action

• Individual freedom and creativity

Witchcraft, religion, science and modernity

• Western assumption of progress towards enlightenment

• Durkheim’s evolutionary view of society

• Durkheim: Religion is primitive science

• Religion is superseded by science

Evans-Pritchard – Azande magic

• Azande thinking was no less rational than European thinking

• Belief in witchcraft coexisted with ‘rational’ explanations of causality

• Witchcraft provided a ‘natural philosophy’ for explaining unfortunate events

Azande witchcraft

• Witchcraft is not extraordinary or miraculous

• It does not replace empirical knowledge

• It explains ‘coincidence’

• Focuses on the socially relevant cause

• Gives social events their moral value

Azande witchcraft and morality

• Follows the dynamics of social relations

• Expresses Azande moral values

Witchcraft is thoroughly modern

• The powers of witchcraft and sorcery are ambivalent

• Dynamic and engaged with the world

• Creatively refashioned to suit new situations

• Emphasis on global processes rather than bounded, local contexts

The Comaroffs: Occult Economies

• No single and universal ‘modernity’

• ‘Occult’ practices are an integral feature of millennial capitalism

• Capitalism itself is cultural and takes on particular local forms

South African capitalism

• Unequal development and access to wealth

• A few become wealthy by the mysterious workings of the market

• Hopes for the majority have not been realised

• Magic of despair

Creativity and modernity

• The key feature of witchcraft is its ambiguity

• An individual can connect to the supernatural directly

• Acts as a dynamic site for cultural and moral creativity

• Witchcraft and sorcery is always modern