Witchcraft, Power and Politics - Exploring the Occult in the South African Lowveld (Paperback, annotated edition)

This is an extraordinary contemporary account of witchcraft and witch-hunting in the modern world. A powerful ethnographic study of witch-hunting in 1980s South Africa - a period of rapid social change - this book demonstrates the extent to which witchcraft must be seen, not as a residue of 'traditional' culture but as part of a complex social drama which is deeply embedded in contemporary political and economic processes. Isak Niehaus provides the context for this fascinating study of witchcraft practices. He shows how witchcraft was politicised against the backdrop of the apartheid state, the liberation struggle and the establishment of the first post-apartheid regime, which all affected conceptions of witchcraft. Niehaus demonstrates how the ANC and other political groups used witchcraft beliefs to further their own agenda. He explores the increasingly conservative role of the chiefs and the Christian church. In the process, he reveals the fraught nature of intergenerational and gender relations. The result is a truly insightful and theoretically engaged account of a much-studied but frequently misunderstood practice.

General

Imprint:	Pluto Press
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Series:	Anthropology, Culture and Society
Release date:	May 2001
First published:	May 2001
Authors:	Isak Niehaus • Eliazaar Mohlala • Kally Shokaneo
Dimensions:	215 x 135 x 18mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - Trade
Pages:	246
Edition:	annotated edition
ISBN-13:	978-0-7453-1558-4
Categories:	Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Anthropology > General Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political structure & processes > General Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Alternative belief systems > Occult studies > Witchcraft Books > Science & Mathematics > Biology, life sciences > Human biology & related topics > Biological anthropology > General Books > Religion & Spirituality > Alternative belief systems > Occult studies > Witchcraft Promotions
LSN:	0-7453-1558-5
Barcode:	9780745315584

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