Join our Email List Berghahn Books Logo

berghahn New York · Oxford

Browse All Books
Powers of Good and Evil: Social Transformation and Popular Belief

View Table of Contents




See Related
Anthropology Journals

Email Newsletters

Sign up for our email newsletters to get customized updates on new Berghahn publications.

Click here to select your preferences

Powers of Good and Evil

Social Transformation and Popular Belief

Edited by Paul Clough and Jon P. Mitchell

264 pages, 11 illus., bibliog., index

ISBN  978-1-57181-992-5 $135.00/£99.00 / Hb / Published (June 2001)

ISBN  978-1-57181-313-8 $34.95/£27.95 / Pb / Published (June 2001)

eISBN 978-1-78238-756-5 eBook

https://doi.org/10.3167/9781571819925


View CartYour country: - edit Buy the eBook from these vendorsRequest a Review or Examination Copy (in Digital Format)Recommend to your LibraryAvailable in GOBI®

Reviews

“…lively and ethnographically interesting. This makes Powers of Good and Evil an excellent teaching resource." • Ethnos

Description

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.

Paul Clough (1949-2019) was Lecturer in Anthropology at the University of Malta.

Jon P. Mitchell is Lecturer in Cultural and Community Studies at the University of Sussex.

Subject: Anthropology (General)Anthropology of ReligionPolitical and Economic Anthropology


Contents

Back to Top



Library Recommendation Form

Dear Librarian,

I would like to recommend Powers of Good and Evil Social Transformation and Popular Belief for the library. Please include it in your next purchasing review with my strong recommendation. The RRP is: $135.00

I recommend this title for the following reasons:

BENEFIT FOR THE LIBRARY: This book will be a valuable addition to the library's collection.

REFERENCE: I will refer to this book for my research/teaching work.

STUDENT REFERRAL: I will regularly refer my students to the book to assist their studies.

OWN AFFILIATION: I am an editor/contributor to this book or another book in the Series (where applicable) and/or on the Editorial Board of the Series, of which this volume is part.