Priests, Witches and Power

Intheaftermathofcolonialmission,ChristianityhascometohavewidespreadacceptanceinSouthernTanzania.Inthisbook,MaiaGreenexplorescontemporaryCatholicpracticeinaruralcommunityofSouthernTanzania.SettingtheadoptionofChristianityandthesuppressionofwitchcraftinahistoricalcontext,shesuggeststhatpowerrelationsestablishedduringthecolonialperiodcontinuetoholdbetweenbothpopularChristianityandorthodoxy,andlocalpopulationsandindigenousclergy.Paradoxically,whilelocalpracticesaroundtheconstitutionofkinshipandpersonhoodremaindefiantlyfreeofChristianelements,theyinformapopularChristianityexperiencedasasystemofsubstancesandpractices.ThisbookoffersachallengetoidealistandinterpretativeaccountsofAfricanparticipationintwentieth-centuryreligiousforms,andarguesforapoliticallygroundedanalysisofhistoricalprocesses.Itwillappealwidelytoscholarsandstudentsofanthropology,sociologyandAfricanStudies;particularlythoseinterestedinreligionandkinship.