Showing papers by "Peter Geschiere published in 2013"

Witchcraft, Intimacy, and Trust: Africa in Comparison

Abstract: In Dante's Inferno, the lowest circle of Hell is reserved for traitors, those who betrayed their closest companions. In a wide range of literatures and mythologies such intimate aggression is a source of ultimate terror, and in Witchcraft, Intimacy, and Trust, Peter Geschiere sketches it as a central ember at the core of human relationships, one brutally revealed in the practice of witchcraft. Examining witchcraft in its variety of forms throughout the globe, he shows how this often misunderstood practice is deeply structured by intimacy and the powers it affords. In doing so, he offers not only a comprehensive look at contemporary witchcraft but also a fresh - if troubling - new way to think about intimacy itself. Geschiere begins in the forests of southeast Cameroon with the Maka, who fear "witchcraft of the house" above all else. Drawing a variety of local conceptions of intimacy into a global arc, he tracks notions of the home and family - and witchcraft's transgression of them - throughout Africa, Europe, Brazil, and Oceania, showing that witchcraft provides powerful ways of addressing issues that are crucial to social relationships. Indeed, by uncovering the link between intimacy and witchcraft in so many parts of the world, he paints a provocative picture of human sociality that scrutinizes some of the most prevalent views held by contemporary social science. One of the few books to situate witchcraft in a global context, Witchcraft, Intimacy, and Trust is at once a theoretical tour de force and an empirically rich and lucid take on a difficult-to-understand spiritual practice and the private spaces it so greatly affects.

Une Afrique homophobe? Sur quelques trajectoires de politisation de l'homosexualité: Cameroun, Ouganda, Sénégal et Afrique du Sud

Abstract: Homophobic Africa? Towards a More Nuanced View The recent emergence of homosexuality as a central issue in public debate in various parts of Africa has encouraged a stereotypical image of one homophobic Africa, often placed in opposition to a tolerant or depraved West. What is striking is that this image of Africa as homophobic is promoted by both traditionalists who insist that homosexuality is a Western intrusion and by the Western media that focus on homophobic statements from African political and religious leaders. What both neglect, however, is the existence of internal debate and disagreements among Africans on the subject of homosexuality. In this article we try to counter this image of a homophobic Africa with a more nuanced discussion, including a comparison of different trajectories in the emergence of homosexuality as a public issue in four countries (Senegal, Cameroon, Uganda, and South Africa). The comparison highlights considerable variations in the ways in which the issue became politicized. There is a world of difference, for example, between the image of the homosexual as un Grand (a rich and powerful "Big Man") who imposes anal penetration as a supreme form of subjection (as in Cameroon or Gabon, where homosexuality is associated with witchcraft and other occult forces ; compare Achille Mbembe’s visionary evocation of a phallocracy) and the often quite marginal persons who become victims of gay persecution in other contexts. More insight into the variations of what is loosely and inaccurately called "homophobia" can help connect international pressures for decriminalization and protection to local circumstances. Working through local activists is crucial for the effort to counter homophobia in Africa. La recente emergence de l'homosexualite comme enjeu central dans le debat public de nombreuses regions d'Afrique, a alimente l'image stereotypee d'une Afrique homophobe, souvent opposee a un Occident tolerant (ou deprave). Il est frappant que cette image de l'Afrique homophobe soit a la fois promue par les traditionnalistes qui decrivent l'homosexualite comme une intrusion occidentale, et par les medias occidentaux qui se focalisent sur les declarations homophobes des leaders politiques et religieux africains. Cependant, dans les deux cas, est negligee l'existence de debats internes et de desaccords parmi les Africains sur le theme de l'homosexualite. Dans cet article, nous cherchons a proposer un contrepoint a cette image de l'Afrique homophobe en developpant une analyse plus nuancee basee sur une comparaison de differentes trajectoires de l'emergence de l'homosexualite comme enjeu public dans quatre pays (le Senegal, le Cameroun, l'Ouganda et l'Afrique du Sud). La comparaison permet de souligner des variations considerables dans les facons dont l'enjeu a ete politise. Il y a par exemple une grande difference entre l'image de l'homosexuel comme un « Grand » (un homme riche et puissant) qui impose la penetration anale comme forme supreme d'assujettissement (comme au Cameroun ou au Gabon ou l'homosexualite est associee a la sorcellerie et d'autres forces occultes de sorte que ce type d'« homosexuel » devient un figure extreme de ce qu'Achille Mbembe a appele la « phallocratie ») d'une part, et les personnes souvent moins privilegiees qui sont les victimes des persecutions contre l'homosexualite dans d'autres contextes. Une reflexion plus fine sur les variations de ce qui est trop facilement et de facon inadequate appelee « homophobie » peut ainsi servir a mettre en lien les pressions internationales en faveur de la decriminalisation et de la protection avec les contextes locaux. Le travail avec les activistes locaux reste crucial quant aux efforts consacres a contrer l'homophobie en Afrique.

Homophobic Africa? Towards a More Nuanced View

Abstract: The recent emergence of homosexuality as a central issue in public debate in various parts of Africa has encouraged a stereotypical image of one homophobic Africa, often placed in opposition to a tolerant or depraved West. What is striking is that this image of Africa as homophobic is promoted by both traditionalists who insist that homosexuality is a Western intrusion and by the Western media that focus on homophobic statements from African political and religious leaders. What both neglect, however, is the existence of internal debate and disagreements among Africans on the subject of homosexuality. In this paper we try to counter this image of a homophobic Africa with a more nuanced discussion, including a comparison of different trajectories in the emergence of homosexuality as a public issue in four countries (Senegal, Cameroon, Uganda, and South Africa). The comparison highlights considerable variations in the ways in which the issue became politicized. There is a world of difference, for example, between the image of the homosexual as un Grand (a rich and powerful 'Big Man') who imposes anal penetration as a supreme form of subjection (as in Cameroon or Gabon, where homosexuality is associated with witchcraft and other occult forces to the extent that this type of "homosexual" becomes an extreme representation of what Achille Mbembe's calls a "phallocracy") and the often quite marginal persons who become victims of gay persecution in other contexts. More insight into the variations of what is loosely and inaccurately called "homophobia" can help connect international pressures for decriminalization and protection to local circumstances. Working through local activists is crucial for the effort to counter homophobia in Africa.