Demons and Development
eBook - PDF

Demons and Development

The Struggle for Community in a Sri Lankan Village

  1. 238 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Demons and Development

The Struggle for Community in a Sri Lankan Village

About this book

In contemporary Sri Lanka, long-established modes of rural life are being disrupted in the name of progress. As this occurs, instances of "demonic possession" have been known to take place—incidents that may both express the conflicts that result and attempt to resolve them. When residents of the village of Kukulewa were promised sixty new houses, a factional rift arose between those who benefited from the project and those who did not. The breach between what became in effect two separate villages resulted in both divisive accusations of sorcery and spirit-inspired appeals for cooperation.

James Brow witnessed these possession trances and sorcery accusations as they occurred, enabling him to convey this richly textured story interweaving political factionalism and troubled spirits. Official projects of development have proceeded apace in Sri Lanka, but until now there have been few accounts of their tendency to tear apart the fabric of rural society. Demons and Development combines an engaging narrative of how development was experienced in one particular village with an original contribution to theories of hegemony, the social anthropology of South Asia, the ethnography of nationalism, and the sociology of development.

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Yes, you can access Demons and Development by James Brow in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Social Sciences & Cultural & Social Anthropology. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Contents
  2. List of Illustrations
  3. Acknowledgments
  4. Lists of Abbreviations
  5. Cast of Characters
  6. 1. Ceremony in Samadigama
  7. 2. Orientations
  8. 3. Of Savages and Kings
  9. 4. The Village Community Confronts the Markets
  10. 5. Party Politics and Nationalist Rhetoric
  11. 6. The Awakening Village
  12. 7. The Rise of the Fernandos
  13. 8. Life in Samadigama
  14. 9. Gods and Demons
  15. 10. Offerings to the Gods
  16. 11. Private Practice
  17. 12. Reflections
  18. Notes
  19. Glossary
  20. References Cited
  21. Index