Bewitching Development

Witchcraft and the Reinvention of Development in Neoliberal Kenya

By: James Howard Smith

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Paperback | 1 July 2008 | Edition Number 1

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272 Pages

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22.8 x 15.26 x 1.09

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These days, development inspires scant trust in the West. For critics who condemn centralized efforts to plan African societies as latter day imperialism, such plans too closely reflect their roots in colonial rule and neoliberal economics. But proponents of this pessimistic view often ignore how significant this concept has become for Africans themselves. In Bewitching Development, James Howard Smith presents a close ethnographic account of how people in the Taita Hills of Kenya have appropriated and made sense of development thought and practice, focusing on the complex ways that development connects with changing understandings of witchcraft.

Similar to magic, development's promise of a better world elicits both hope and suspicion from Wataita. Smith shows that the unforeseen changes wrought by development-greater wealth for some, dashed hopes for many more-foster moral debates that Taita people express in occult terms. By carefully chronicling the beliefs and actions of this diverse community-from frustrated youths to nostalgic seniors, duplicitous preachers to thought-provoking witch doctors-BewitchingDevelopment vividly depicts the social life of formerly foreign ideas and practices in postcolonial Africa.

Industry Reviews

"Bewitching Development offers a challenging approach to the issue of development and its intertwinement with witchcraft. Skillfully grounded in rich ethnographic data, Smith's innovative interpretations of these urgent issues are highly convincing and will have a profound influence on ongoing debates." - Peter Geschiere, University of Amsterdam"

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Sociology & Anthropology Anthropology Social & Cultural Anthropology, Ethnography Economics Development Economics & Emerging Economies Physical Anthropology Religion & Beliefs Alternative Belief Systems Occult Studies Witchcraft Earth Sciences, Geography, Environment, Planning

Geography Society & Culture Archaeology

Preface	p. vii
Bewitching Development: The Disintegration and Reinvention of Development in Kenya	p. 1
I Still Exist! Taita Historicity	p. 49
Development's Other: Witchcraft as Development through the Looking Glass	p. 93
"Each Household Is a Kingdom": Development and Witchcraft at Home	p. 117
"Dot Com Will Die Seriously!" Spatiotemporal Miscommunication and Competing Sovereignties in Taita Thought and Ritual	p. 147
NGOs, Gender, and the Sovereign Child	p. 179
Democracy Victorious: Exorcising Witchcraft from Development	p. 215
Conclusion: Tempopolitics, Or Why Development Should Not Be Defined as the Improvement of Living Standards	p. 241
Notes	p. 249
References	p. 255
Index	p. 267
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Bewitching Development

Witchcraft and the Reinvention of Development in Neoliberal Kenya

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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