Spirits in Politics
Violence and Social Healing in African Societies
Poster of the workshop 'Spirits in Politics'.
While the humanities and social sciences view the ‘return of the Gods’ as recent social phenomenon in western societies, the recognition of an enduring prevalence of religion in the public sphere has been central in the anthropological discipline. The relation between transcendental agents such as spirits, ghosts and ancestors and public and political domains has effects on societies the world over.
The workshop aims at taking a close-up look at the role of spirits in socio-political spheres in African societies. Do spirits enter the scene after politics have failed as a relapse into an allegedly pre-modern condition (as the concept of failed states suggests)? Or do they precede political processes as classic models of modernization try to establish? Social Anthropologists and other scholars committed to the understanding of current social processes in African societies ascertain that spirits feature persistently in political, economic and social action; either as subtle subtext or in decidedly apparent ways. Spirits’ involvement is not restricted to divination ceremonies or to ‘grass root’ local environments but is noted to determine interactions at various societal levels including government politics. Apparently, modernity and secularization as seemingly inseparable couple does not sit well with non-western concepts of how societies make sense of their world.
The organizers of the workshop would like to foster the discussion on the interface between religion and politics in African societies by providing the opportunity to compare and discuss current research results. Data from different regional backgrounds are welcome to enhance the discussion by widening up the regional focus. Violence (past and present) and subsequent processes of societal healing are particularly pronounced instances for the study of the interface between religion and politics. Case studies exemplify how – at various societal levels - spirits and other supernatural agents play an active role in conflicts, warfare as well as reconciliation. Divination, possession and other ritual techniques reflect how people regain control over political processes that determine their lives. Instead of seeking causal explanations from a culturally distant point of view the participants to this workshop shall discuss and compare the logic behind these phenomena. (Barbara Meier)
Programme
| Thursday, January 14th | ||
|---|---|---|
| 14:00–14:30 | Helene Basu, Münster | Beginning and welcome address |
| 14:30–15:30 | Stephen Ellis, Leiden [and Gerrie Ter Haar, Den Haag] | Spirits in Politics: The Invisible Worlds of Religion and Capital |
| 15:30–16:30 | Florence Bernault, Wisconsin | Magic and politics in Equatorial Africa |
| 16:30–17:30 | Barbara Meier, Münster | Fighting Spirits – War and Peace among the Acholi in Northern Uganda, : Film Fighting Spirits’ by Barbara Meier |
| Optional | Barbara Meier, Münster | Film 'Fighting Spirits' |
| Friday, January 15th | ||
| 9:00–10:00 | Victor Igreja, Brisbane, and Limore Racin, Tel Aviv | The Politics of Spiritual Agency, Intersubjectivity and Collective Action in Postwar Mozambique |
| 10:00–11:00 | John Combey, Münster | Spirits and Political Power among the Koh Mende in Sierra Leone |
| 11:30–12:30 | Ferdinand Okwaro, Heidelberg | Occult Powers, Spirits and Democratic Processes in Africa |
| 12:30–13:30 | Omanga Duncan Mainye, Bayreuth | Thus saith the Prophet: Religion, the Media and Regional Politics in the 2007 Kenyan Poll |
| 15:00–16:00 | Henry Kam Kah, Buea, Cameroon | Power, 'Pygmisation' and the Shrine Culture in Cameroon’s Politics and Governance |
| 16:00–17:00 | Arne Steinforth, Münster | The Spirit in the Voting Booth: Democracy and the Invisible Realm in Malawi |
| 17:30–18:30 | Menno Welling, Malawi | Spirits, Trees and the Politics of Land: The Case of the Lower Shire Valley, Malawi |
| Saturday, January 16th | ||
| 9:00–10:00 | Johannes Harnischfeger, Frankfurt | Spiritual Appropriations of Modernity: an Igbo Prophetess and her Cursade against 'Paganism' |
| 10:00–11:00 | Kjersti Larsen, Oslo | Remedies of Restoration: Spirits, Magic and Everyday-Life Politics in Zanzibar |
| 11:30–12:30 | Isak Niehaus, London | Witchcraft as Sub-Text: Deep Knowledge and the South African Public Sphere |
| 12:30–13:30 | Plenum | Discussion/Conclusion |