Michel Foucault states that discourses are a verbal means of describing the world and speaking reality into being, in addition to interacting with this reality (Nye 2008:74). However, a dominating reality cannot be arbitrarily produced by just anyone, only by those that hold power within that particular society. By using their power, they create a dominant discourse supported by actions, words and practices that prevent others from abiding by an alternative discourse without facing some sort of punishment be it physical abuse or social stigma. The dominant discourse differs based on culture and location, in places like Europe witchcraft is thought to be primitive with flawed logic, or no logic at all behind it. However, in places like Niger, …show more content…
Normally, tezma, is invoked unconsciously by a smith in order to coerce others into sharing items or providing the smith with aid of some kind (Rasmussen 2001:145-146). This is normally used on nobles who may otherwise have some reservations about giving things to smiths. Though tezma is a power held by smiths, it can be used by nobles as well, it is said to be more potent when used by a noble than by a smith because it is so unusual for a noble to be in a subservient state, as to require aid from those of the lower classes like smiths (Rasmussen 2001:146). The roles of social classes aren’t the only ones that have changed with the progression of time, gender roles and family structures have also been …show more content…
Due to European colonization, and the continued exploitation of Africa, and its resources, a lot of the social structures and government structures within countries, like Niger, have been forced to change to fit a profitable colonial ideal. Though nomadic economies worked out well for the people of Niger, this was changed due to the influence of globalization on the Nigerien government. Specifically, a nomadic lifestyle may be regarded as primitive to outsiders since settlements are common in most countries, particularly those in the first and second world. Thus, the traditions and values of those in Niger take a backseat to garnering western acceptance. This leads to social upheaval and the alteration of traditional societal roles like in the case of the smiths and nobles. These social upheavals result in more cases of perceived witchcraft being enacted upon those that benefit from globalization, or it may lead to those that benefit from globalization being accused of being witches; a lot of people find it hard to believe one could amass such wealth without dabbling with the supernatural. Additionally, when state governments are filled with rich people who make laws against attacking or persecuting those who are thought to be witches, it leads the public to perceive these governments as looking out for their own wellbeing as practitioners of witchcraft themselves (Moore and Sanders
Foucault capitalizes that power and knowledge contribute to the discourse of sex; he discusses how people in power controlled this discourse to repress sex entirely. Foucault talks about the repressive hypothesis in his book. The repressive hypothesis states that whoever holds the power, also controls the discourse on sexuality. Specifically, those in power, according to the repressive hypothesis, exercise to repress the discussion of sex. In addition, Foucault comments that knowledge represents power. Whoever has the power can dictate the language of the population, thus this causes powerful people to also regulate the knowledge of the population. Although Foucault does not agree with every aspect that the repressive hypothesis exclaims, he agrees about the timing of when people started to repress sex. With rise of the bourgeoisie in the 17th century, a rise in tighter control about sex also took place. Foucault stated that the discourse of sex remained
Throughout the late 17th century and into the early 18th century witchcraft prosecutions had been declining. This trend was the result of a multitude of social developments which altered the mentality of society. One of the predominant factors in this decline was the Scientific Revolution, the most important effect of these advances was making society question concepts of witchcraft. Along with this new mental outlook, we see that the Reformation had a similar effect on social opinion concerning witchcraft and magic. These two developments changed societies view on the occult and this led to a wider scepticism concerning witchcraft, this favoured those who had been accused and therefore caused a decline in prosecutions. Beyond the two trends mentioned however, it is important to consider judicial reforms and an improved socio-economic situation which reduced tensions within society. These two changes were certainly not as influential as the Scientific Revolution and the Reformation but heavily altered the circumstances in which accusations were normally made. With the altered social attitudes and mental outlook these changes in living situations all contributed to bring about the decline in witchcraft prosecutions.
Stephen King once stated “We never know which lives we influence, or when, or why.” People can be influenced greatly by their society and surrounding environment. Once a common belief is generated, it is usually difficult or others if. In the play, The Crucible, such is shown through the Salem witch trials. In the article, “It’s 2013, and They’re Burning ‘Witches’” the people of Papua New Guinea, also known as PNG, still believe that black magic is used to kill people who have no relation to each other. The general belief that the society influences determine the rash decisions that people take and the fear the unknown results in the blame of the unknown.
1 Nachman Ben-Yehuda The European Witch Craze of the 14th to 17th Centuries: A Sociologist’s Perspective. The University of Chicago, 1980. 15. 2 Levack! 123.3 Levack 164.
The results of witch hunts, such as social implications, usually bring about many unforeseen events and consequences. For example, countless numbers of peoples, estimated in the tens of thousands, died due to the accusation of witchcraft. These people “face humiliations, torture and banishment” (Prasad 1-2) simply because of the accusation of witchcraft under (usually) false charge...
Religious influence, the manipulation of fear, and the frightening aspects of witchcraft all are very influential to the popular belief of witchcraft during this time period. The popularity of witchcraft in this time period is important because it has shown how in the past when there is no logical explanation they would automatically blame Satan and say it was Satan’s doing. It also shows that history repeats itself because during the Cold War many individuals were accused of being communist even though there was no hard evidence proving this accusation; however, out of fear people will still be convicted, just like during the witch trials. Moreover, witch trials were not only influenced by many things but they have been influential; therefore, showing that they influenced things in our time
Sidky, H. Witchcraft, lycanthropy, drugs, and disease: an anthropological study of the European witch-hunts. New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc., 1997.
1: In the piece “Cannibals, Witches, and Slave Traders in the Atlantic World” by John Thornton, Thornton explains the mentality of the native Africans during the slave trade. The mentality of these people is something that Americans and British people have misconceived “The beliefs of slaves from the Kikongo- and Kimbundu-speaking regions of West Central Africa (see Figure I), discernable in a variety of documents from the African side”(Thornton 275). The African people had beliefs of cannibalism and witchcraft. These ideas were instilled into their culture by the way of their religions. The people that were “witches” were those who were very greedy people. Africa was a very community based area and because of this the people all attempted to contribute positively towards the
Sarah Snyder Professor Feola Gov’t 416: Critical Theory Assignment #2 On Foucault, “Truth and Juridical Forms” Michel Foucault may be regarded as the most influential twentieth-century philosopher on the history of systems of thought. His theories focus on the relationship between power and knowledge, and how such may be used as a form of social control through institutions in society. In “Truth and Juridical Forms,” Foucault addresses the development of the nineteenth-century penal regime, which completely transformed the operation of the traditional penal justice system.
(Rabinow 8) Foucault argued that people can rise to power using discourse, “Discourse has the ability to turn human beings into subjects by placing them into certain categories.” (Rabinow 8) These categories are then defined “according to their level of deviance from the acceptable norm.” (Rabinow 8) Some examples of such categories are the homosexual, the insane, the criminal and the i.e. a rabbi now 8). By the above method, called “dividing practices,” people can be manipulated by socially categorizing them and then comparing them to norms.
European colonization in Kenya had a large impact on Africa’s religion and culture. Africa had over 100 ethnic groups in which were effected from the colonization. (Doc.2). The Europeans believed that Africans did not have a developed religion and believed in bizarre thing such as witchcraft (Doc.6). But, in the Abaluyia Story of Creation, it told how the world and man was created, which was really like the European religion of Christianity in which Adam and Eve was made in a similar way. This proved that they indeed did have an organized religion (Doc.7). In 1962, 80% of Kenyans believed in the indigenous beliefs, but after in 2002, only 26% of the population believed in the indigenous beliefs. Because Europeans believed in Christianity, Protestant beliefs went from 7% in 1962 to 38% in 2002, and Catholic beliefs went from 3.5% to 28% (Doc. 8). Europeans felt they gave Africans the Christian religion, a “superior” form of government, and a more developed civilization (Background Essay). The colonization in Kenya changed their culture also. Kenyans changed their clothing. Leaders of Kenya including the first president Jomo Kenyatta wore clothing very similar to the clothing of the Europeans (Doc.5). This made people feel that their clothing was not in fashion and they had to follow the way of the Europeans. This decreased the amount of people wearing their regular clothing and the amount of people following their own culture. Kenya’s religion and culture truly converted, because of European colonization.
This essay will analyze and critique Michel Foucault’s (1984) essay The Use of Pleasure in order to reveal certain internal weaknesses it contains and propose modifications that would strengthen his reading of sexuality as a domain of moral self-formation. In order to do so, it will present a threefold critique of his work. Firstly, it will argue that that his focus on solely the metric of pleasure divorced from its political manifestations underemphasizes state power as a structuring principle of sexuality. Secondly, it will posit that his attention to classical morality privileges written works by male elites and fails to account for the subtexts that would demonstrate other forms of morality. Finally, it will argue that the nature of actors’ resistance to moral codes, explicated through Butler’s concept of iterability and signification, is an important factor that should also be considered. As a result of this critique, this essay
Witchcraft persecution peaked in intensity between 1560 and 1630 however the large scale witch hysteria began in the 14th century, at the end of the Middle Ages and were most intense during the Renaissance and continued until the 18th century, an era often referred to as the Enlightenment or Age of Reason. Representation of witches, nay, representation in general is a political issue. Without the power ot define the female voice and participate in decisions that affect women -similar to other marginalised groups in society- will be subject to the definitions and decisions of those in power. In this context, the power base lay with men. It can be said that the oppression of women may not have been deliberate, it is merely a common sense approach to the natural order of things: women have babies, women are weak, women are dispensable. However the natural order of things, the social constructs reflect the enduring success of patriarchal ideology. As such, ideology is a powerful source of inequality as well as a rationalisation of it. This essay will examine the nature of witchcraft and why it was threatening to Christianity.
Witchcraft is the use of these forces for negative ends, to extort evil, and magic asks for positive ends. Witchcraft has been found to exist in all corners of the globe at some point. It is no coincidence that during the Enlightenment, witch hunts in Europe and North America became common. The aim was to rid society of these people regarded as unreasonable and dangerous. By contrast self-proclaimed witches still have a function in some societies today, mainly in the developing world. Magic however is often a word used to describe certai...
I. INTRODUCTION The Enlightenment and the emerging of modern rationalism have paved the way to a worldview where the suspicion of witchcraft is not needed to explain the mysterious phenomena of this world. This is not the case in Africa. The belief in the existence of witches, evil persons who are able to harm others by using mystical powers, is part of the common cultural knowledge. Samuel Waje Kunhiyop states, “Almost all African societies believe in witchcraft in one form or another.