Course Description: This course explores the often-misunderstood concept of "witchcraft," past and present. "Witchcraft" is at times used to characterize nuanced cultural systems of power and healing, which seek to explain and redress suffering. In turn, many societies experiencing environmental insecurity, health crises, and rapid economic transitions have seen the rise of "witch-hunting" movements, from the Puritan New England witch trials to present-day global conspiracy theories. We consider the causes and trajectories of these movements, which often promise collective redemption and salvation through the scapegoating of suspected malefactors, and examine alternative approaches to redressing injustice and misfortune.
It should be emphasized that “witchcraft” is a difficult and in many respects problematic term; it may refer to a range of beliefs about mystical or occult causes of misfortune; local cosmological systems of power and influence; patterns of accusation against suspected malefactors; or a range of faiths and models of life actively pursued by practitioners, including adherents of Wicca, neo-paganism, and other spiritual traditions. This course explores diverse anthropological approaches to witchcraft beliefs and anti-witchcraft movements, as well as a great range of witchcraft or nature-oriented spiritualities.
We begin with close attention to anthropological discussions and debates over witchcraft and anti-witchcraft dynamics in colonial and postcolonial Africa, and then examine several case studies from early modern Europe and New England, before turning to modern experiences of neopaganism and Wicca. as well as current “witchcraft scares” in the present moment. Throughout, we are concerned with ethnographic and anthropologically-informed approaches to understanding systems of explaining misfortune and pursuing individual and collective healing.
- Teacher: Mark Auslander