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Contribution short abstract:

Using selected ethnographic examples from Latin America and Africa, the lecture will examine the extent to which economic changes in commoning or uncommoning produce conflicts within kinship relations and lead to accusations of witchcraft.

Contribution long abstract:

Witchcraft beliefs are widespread and can be found on all continents and in very different types of society. In addition to astonishing parallels, there are also significant differences. These concern not only the details of the respective ideas, but also the question of which types of people were usually suspected of witchcraft or sorcery (men-women, old-young, rich-poor, etc.). For the most part, however, witches and their victims are related by kinship or neighborhood. Concepts of witchcraft thus point to tensions and conflicts in social relationships. These are often linked to the different expectations of those involved with regard to the content and scope of mutual obligations and support and the use of goods, such as land or other resources as commons or private property. Witchcraft beliefs are fuelled by ambivalent feelings, such as the pursuit of money to fulfil personal needs on the one hand and the obligation to support the family and kin. They are a form of coping with "cognitive dissonance" (Festinger), i.e. the ideas about what a certain situation/relationship should look like and their real experience contradict each other. This is often the case when solidarity and harmony should prevail in a social relationship, but in reality there is mistrust and conflict.

Using selected ethnographic examples from Latin America and Africa, the lecture will examine the extent to which economic changes in commoning or uncommoning produce conflicts within kinship relations and lead to accusations of witchcraft.