Powers of Good and Evil
eBook - PDF

Powers of Good and Evil

Social Transformation and Popular Belief

  1. 264 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Powers of Good and Evil

Social Transformation and Popular Belief

About this book

A key theme in the anthropology of beliefs is the relationship between socio-economic change and changes in the belief system. It has been widely argued that rapid economic change, particularly the introduction of capitalism, leads to an increase in beliefs in, and representations of, evil and the devil. These beliefs, it is argued, constitute forms of resistance to, or rejection of, "modernity." This volume builds on these arguments, suggesting that rather than an indigenous resistance to capitalism, such representations signal a profound moral ambivalence towards the socio-economic process inherent in capitalist economy. Using a range of examples, from Surinamese zombies to American horror films, it demonstrates the extent to which evil imagery is linked to a fear of excess, particularly in situations where people find themselves, or perceive themselves, to be peripheral to the centers of political, economic, and cultural power.

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Yes, you can access Powers of Good and Evil by Paul Clough,Jon P. Mitchell 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. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Table of Contents
  4. List of Illustrations
  5. Contributors
  6. Introduction
  7. Chapter 1. Dangerous Creatures and the Enchantment of Modern Life
  8. Chapter 2. Witchcraft and New Forms of Wealth
  9. Chapter 3. The Devil, Satanism and the Evil Eye in Contemporary Malta
  10. Chapter 4. 'You Devil, go away from me!' Pentecostalist African Christianity and the Powers of Good and Evil
  11. Chapter 5. Modernity, Crisis and the Rise of Charismatic Catholicism in the Maltese Islands
  12. Chapter 6. Good, Evil and Godhood
  13. Chapter 7. The State and the Empire of Evil
  14. Chapter 8. The Iconography of Evil in Maltese Art
  15. Conclusions. The Political Economy behind the Powers of Good and Evil
  16. Index