Witchcraft And Sorcery

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In today’s modern world, societies from all reaches of the globe are closer than ever. Events in one society often end up resulting in some kind of domino effect in which they end up occuring in another. Often ideas of witchcraft and sorcery tend to fade away as societies become more globalised and far greater connected. However, in some parts of the world , witchcraft and sorcery serves as a very real phenomenon. By means of various ethnographic examples, this essay seeks to show how witchcraft and sorcery can serve as an explanation for the occurance of various tragedies in a society and also manages to spread throughout the contemporary globalised world.

The first example of witchcraft refers to acts of sorcery ocurring in Sylhet in Bangladesh …show more content…

In this way, despite the fact that they are surrounded by global Western hegemony , Bengali expats still engage in witchcraft to feel some kind of connection to what they consider to be their kin ( Callan 2007 : 334 ).

The idea of kinship also plays a major role in witchcraft and sorcery in Africa specifically regarding the Maka in Southeast Cameroon. In Africa kinship is of utmost importance despite the fact that it has the ability to change continuously as well as maintains bridges between modernity and traditional views mainly concerning inequalities between the two ( Geschiere 2003 : 44 ). However, to many . witchcraft in terms of kinship is seen as some kind of act of disloyalty ( Geschiere 2003 : 47 ).

In terms of developement studies definition, kinship is often seen as some kind of ‘safety net’ in which nouveau rich or elite with humble backgrounds can fall back on when required ( Geschiere 2003 : 44 ). In fact to many , the secret to many people’s fortunes or success comes from djambe of riches or specifically some kind of sorcery that contributes to their wealth and this same mentality or idea of the power of witchcraft can lead to the downfall of these elites as well ( Geschiere 2003 : 47 …show more content…

In this way, globalisation reaches them by means of these elites along with influence and power that local villagers do not possess ( Geschiere 2003 : 49 ). They were also the only people who could influence the local villagers in following through with their agreements so they became the middle men between old traditions and the modern world ( Geschiere 2003 : 49 ).

However, the combination of some kind of distance as well as some kind of kinship inclusion provides the perfect hotbed for sparks of witchcraft to ignite. Many elites claim that they have to keep their distance from their villages due to their fear of ‘being eaten’ ( Geschiere 2003 : 51 ). Just like with the Bangladeshi expats, although these elites have been reached by globalisation, they still firmly believe in the power of witchcraft as well as the effect that it may have on them.

The ideas of kinship as well as its connection to the pitfalls of success are expressed in the values involved in the capitalistic accumulation of wealth which generates some kind of tension in the moral economy ( Parish 2000 : 488 ). Witchcraft accusations develop as a result of not just a sense of entitlement as mentioned above but as a result of envy regarding kin who were seen to have succeeded ( Parish 2000 : 488

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