Powers of Good and Evil

by Clough, Paul; Mitchell, Jon P.

• ISBN13: 9781571813138
• ISBN10: 1571813136
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-06-01
• Publisher: Berghahn Books

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.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	vi
Introduction	1	(16)
Jon P. Mitchell
Dangerous Creatures and the Enchantment of Modern Life	17	(26)
Bonno Thoden van Velzen
Ineke van Wetering
Witchcraft and New forms of Wealth: Regional Variations in South and West Cameroon	43	(34)
Peter Geschiere
The Devil, Satanism and the Evil Eye in Contemporary Malta	77	(27)
Jon P. Mitchell
`You Devil, Go Away From Me!' Pentecostalist African Christianity and the Powers of Good and Evil	104	(31)
Birgit Meyer
Modernity, Crisis and the Rise of Charismatic Catholicism in the Maltese Islands	135	(26)
Nadia Theuma
Good, Evil and Godhood: Mormon Morality in the Material World	161	(24)
Hildi J. Mitchell
The State and the Empire of Evil	185	(25)
Jojada Verrips
The Iconography of Evil in Maltese Art	210	(23)
Isabelle Borg
Conclusions: The Political Economy behind the Powers of Good and Evil	233	(20)
Paul Clough
Index	253