Witchcraft in modern Africa as virtualised boundary conditions of the kinship order

This book is a product of papers from two panels entitled "epistemological and ideological approaches to witchcraft within African studies: a critical assessment", held at the African Studies Association Annual Meeting in Chicago, October 27 to November 1, 1998. It analyses the complex manner in which human beings experience and think about witchcraft. Contributions: George Clement Bond and Diane M. Ciekawy: Introduction: contested domains in the dialogues of "witchcraft'. Elias Bongmba: African witchcraft: from ethnography to critique. Barry Hallen: "Witches" as superior intellects: challenging a cross-cultural superstition. René Devisch: Sorcery forces of life and death among the Yaka of Congo. George Clement Bond: Ancestors and witches: explanations and the ideology of individual power in northern Zambia. Diane M. Ciekawy: Utsai as ethical discourse: a critique of power from Mijikenda in coastal Kenya. Richard Werbner: Truth-on-balance: knowing the opaque other in Tswapong wisdom divination. Wim van Binsbergen: Witchcraft in modern Africa as virtualized boundary conditions of the kinship order. E.C. Eze: Epistemological and ideological issues about witchcraft in African studies: a response to René Devisch, Elias Bongmba, and Richard Werbner. Karen E. Fields: Witchcraft and racecraft: invisible ontology in its sensible manifestations. George Clement Bond and Diane M. Ciekawy: Conclusions: fabricating the occult, distancing the familiar.