Witch-Hunts and Revitalization
In this lecture, I want to analyze witch-hunts in terms of the concept “revitalization movement”. This concept, theorized by Wallace in 1956, describe...
Witch-Hunts and Persecution
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In this course, we will use the anthropological approach and methodology to understand witch-hunts and persecution. We start by looking at magic, witchcraft and sorcery and explaining the persistence of related beliefs and practices. As we will see the basic idea of witch persecution is that we have an image of a witch (or sorcerer) and then we pin it on someone. We analyze this image in greater detail. Pinning this image on someone is a process of accusation; we analyze among whom, why and how accusations occur. Finally, we look at some “witch-hunts”—including the Great Witch-hunt, the Salem Trials, and McCarthyism—in greater detail.
Accusations: Directions of Witchcraft Accusations
In this lecture, I want to analyze more deeply relationships between those involved in both witchcraft and accusation. I suggest that harm can result ...
Accusations: Who Gets Accused?
In the previous lecture, we looked at the “how” of identification. Now we will look at who is involved. I proposed that identification, in many cases,...
Accusations: Gossip
In the previous three lectures, we have, for the purpose of analysis, distinguished the witch of our imagination. When someone is accused of being a w...
Cannibal Mothers
In previous lectures, we have looked at how we can we analyze the image of the witch. Mair says the witch image represents the opposite of good. Needh...
Primordial Characters
One idea to explain the similarity of witch imagery between cultures is that the witch represents the opposite of good. As I show in this lecture, ano...
Nightmare Witches
In the previous four lectures, we considered witch-hunting in various contexts. Now we need to analyze what is going on in these cases. The basic idea...
Indonesian Witch-Hunts
This lecture provides an overview of witch-hunts I have studied in Indonesia. Copyright 2013 Nicholas Herriman / La Trobe University, all rights reser...
African Witch-Finding Movements
This lecture focuses particularly on witch-hunting in Africa. As we shall see, such witch-hunting has, on certain occasions taken the form of a cult b...
Salem and McCarthyism
The lecture focuses on the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism. In doing this, I hope to provide a clearer sense of what we might call “persecution” an...