Witchcraft as Modern In the West African beliefs in witchcraft are what make it primitive Yet witchcraft and antiwitchcraft medicine is modern Because it indexes social relations envy it increases with growth of social inequality postapartheid South Africa 1920s Ghana during coco ID: 444337
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Witchcraft, Neoliberalism & Debt, and OutsidersSlide2
Witchcraft as Modern
In the West, African beliefs in witchcraft are what make it primitive
Yet witchcraft (and anti-witchcraft medicine) is “modern”
Because it indexes social relations (envy), it increases with growth of social inequality (post-apartheid South Africa, 1920s Ghana during cocoa boom)Uses modern substances (battery acid) and advertising techniques “Educated” people also believe or at least don’t fully disbelieve (Bakari, p. 121)Slide3
Why is the African State so…
Volatile?
Weak and fragile?
Corrupt?Oppressive and/or indifferent to its citizens?Personalized—dependent on personal connections to get services, heated personalized rivalries between parties (rather than ideological differences)?Slide4
The rhizome state
The politics of the belly
ExtraversionSlide5
The African State is Rhizomatic
(that is, made up of rhizomes)Slide6
The Politics of the Belly
“I chop, you chop”
Politicians are like big men: their followers need to share in their prosperity; their prosperity is a sign of their political power (Rawlings)
Accusations of witchcraftUnequal and hierarchicalWhy is there corruption? (Zairian air force)Slide7
Extraversion of the African State
What does it mean for a person to be extraverted vs. introverted?
The African state is similarly oriented to the outside---as a source of power and resources
Some connections to pre-colonial ways that people obtain power; some connections to colonialismMore accountable to the World Bank, oil companies, etc than to its own populaceThis extraversion works against democracySlide8Slide9Slide10Slide11
Where does the debt come from?
Why is it increasing over time?
Trade imbalance: the goods Africa produces/exports not valued as much on world market as goods Africa imports (why? Mainly raw, unprocessed materials; this has changed in the last decade with the increase in the use of mineral wealth, driven by China’s fast-growing economy).
Most aid from Western countries in the form of loans, not grants Creditors were the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Corrupt leaders who squandered the money on their personal bank accounts
Used for development: Example of Volta River Dam (in Ghana)Slide12
Structural Adjustment Programs (SAP)
Regulations set by IMF on African governments to increase their debt payments:
Reduce government spending (mainly affected health, education, social welfare
)--specifically, what did SAP do in northern Cameroon?Invest resources in export products (timber, coffee, copper, etc. privatizing gov. businesses)
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HIPC = Highly Indebted Poor CountriesSlide16
Where is the money going?Slide17
“Cameroon is ‘postcolonial’ but by no means independent”
Agree?
Disagree?