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A key theme in the anthropology of beliefs is the relationship between socio-economic change and changes in the belief system. It has been widely argued that rapid economic change, particularly the introduction of capitalism, leads to an increase in beliefs in, and representations of, evil and the devil. These beliefs, it is argued, constitute forms of resistance to, or rejection of, "modernity." This volume builds on these arguments, suggesting that rather than an indigenous resistance to capitalism, such representations signal a profound moral ambivalence towards the socio-economic process inherent in capitalist economy. Using a range of examples, from Surinamese zombies to American horror films, it demonstrates the extent to which evil imagery is linked to a fear of excess, particularly in situations where people find themselves, or perceive themselves, to be peripheral to the centers of political, economic, and cultural power.
List of contents
List of Illustrations
Introduction Jon P. Mitchell Chapter 1. Dangerous Creatures and the Enchantment of Modern Life
Bonno Thoden van Velzen and
Ineke van Wetering Chapter 2. Witchcraft and New Forms of Wealth: Regional Variations in South and West Cameroon
Peter Geschiere Chapter 3. The Devil, Satanism and the Evil Eye in Contemporary Malta
Jon P. Mitchell Chapter 4. 'You Devil, Go Away from Me!' Pentecostalist African Christianity and the Powers of Good and Evil
Birgit Meyer Chapter 5. Modernity, Crisis, and the Rise of Charismatic Catholicism in Maltese Islands
Nadia Theuma Chapter 6. Good, Evil and Godhood: Mormon Morality in the Material World
Hildi J. Mitchell Chapter 7. The State and the Empire of Evil
Jojada Verrips Chapter 8. The Iconography of Evil in Maltese Art
Isabelle Borg Conclusions: The Political Economy behind the Powers of Good and Evil
Paul Clough Index
About the author
Paul Clough (1949-2019) was Lecturer in Anthropology at the University of Malta.
Summary
A key theme in the anthropology of beliefs is the relationship between socio-economic change and changes in the belief system. It has been widely argued that rapid economic change, particularly the introduction of capitalism, leads to an increase in beliefs in, and representations of, evil and the devil. These beliefs, it is argued, constitute forms of resistance to, or rejection of, "modernity." This volume builds on these arguments, suggesting that rather than an indigenous resistance to capitalism, such representations signal a profound moral ambivalence towards the socio-economic process inherent in capitalist economy. Using a range of examples, from Surinamese zombies to American horror films, it demonstrates the extent to which evil imagery is linked to a fear of excess, particularly in situations where people find themselves, or perceive themselves, to be peripheral to the centers of political, economic, and cultural power.
Additional text
"... lively and ethnographically interesting. This makes Powers of Good and Evil an excellent teaching resource."����Ethnos
