Beyond Rationalism: Rethinking Magic, Witchcraft and Sorcery

" . . . Kapferer's introduction is an intellectual tour de force, perhaps the most important rethinking of the problems of rationality that underlie the study of witchcraft and sorcery since Evans-Pritchard." - American Anthropologist " . . . teems with interesting theoretical insights, and all the chapters are particularly strong in delineating local meanings within the framework of broader processes." - African Studies Review ". . . shows that the discourses on 'occult economies' are multiple . . . The presented essays are an excellent illustration of their variety of forms and constitute a valuable contribution to their understanding." - Anthropos This book seeks a reconsideration of the phenomenon of sorcery and related categories. The contributors to the volume explore the different perspectives on human sociality and social and political constitution that practices typically understood as sorcery, magic and ritual reveal. In doing so the authors are concerned to break away from the dictates of a western externalist rationalist understanding of these phenomena without falling into the trap of mysticism. The articles address a diversity of ethnographic contexts in Africa, Asia, the Pacific and the Americas. Bruce Kapferer is Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Bergen, Adjunct Professor at James Cook University and Honorary Professor at University College London.