BIBLIO is the largest independent book marketplace in the world, with over 100 million books.

Skip to content

Bewitching Development: Witchcraft and the Reinvention of Development in
Stock photo: cover may vary

Bewitching Development: Witchcraft and the Reinvention of Development in Neoliberal Kenya Hardback - 2008

by James Howard Smith

Add to wish list

Reader reviews for Bewitching Development: Witchcraft and the Reinvention of Development in Neoliberal Kenya

Write a review for this book

There are no reviews for this book yet. Be the first to write a review!

Your review will be anonymous unless you login or create an account first.

Overall rating
Remember: You’re rating the book as a work, not the seller or the condition of the specific copy you purchased!

Important Terms and Guidelines

  • Please focus on the book’s content and context. Also, add any personal comments as to how you enjoyed the book. Substantiate your likes and dislikes. You may make comparisons to other books.
  • Reviews must be at least 140 characters in length.
  • Please do not reveal critical plot elements.
  • This is not a help line. Contact customer support if you need help.
Your review must not include:
  • Obscenities, discriminatory language, or other insulting language not suitable for public domain
  • Advertisements, “spam” content, or references to other products, offers or websites.
  • Email addresses, URLs, phone numbers, physical addresses or other contact information.
  • Overly critical comments about other reviews or reviewers
  • Time-sensitive material (i.e. promotional tours, seminars, lectures, etc.)
  • Availability, price, or alternative ordering/shipping information

From the publisher

These days, development inspires scant trust in the West. For critics who condemn centralized efforts to plan African societies as latter day imperialism, such plans too closely reflect their roots in colonial rule and neoliberal economics. But proponents of this pessimistic view often ignore how significant this concept has become for Africans themselves. In Bewitching Development, James Howard Smith presents a close ethnographic account of how people in the Taita Hills of Kenya have appropriated and made sense of development thought and practice, focusing on the complex ways that development connects with changing understandings of witchcraft.

Similar to magic, development's promise of a better world elicits both hope and suspicion from Wataita. Smith shows that the unforeseen changes wrought by development--greater wealth for some, dashed hopes for many more--foster moral debates that Taita people express in occult terms. By carefully chronicling the beliefs and actions of this diverse community--from frustrated youths to nostalgic seniors, duplicitous preachers to thought-provoking witch doctors--BewitchingDevelopment vividly depicts the social life of formerly foreign ideas and practices in postcolonial Africa.

Details

  • Title Bewitching Development: Witchcraft and the Reinvention of Development in Neoliberal Kenya
  • Author James Howard Smith
  • Binding Hardback
  • Pages 272
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher University of Chicago Press
  • Publication date July 15, 2008
  • Illustrated Yes
  • Features Bibliography, Illustrated, Index
  • ISBN 9780226764573 / 0226764575
  • Weight 1.6 lbs (0.73 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.07 x 6.07 x 0.88 in (23.04 x 15.42 x 2.24 cm)
  • Themes
    • Cultural Region: East Africa
  • Category Archaeology / Anthropology
  • Library of Congress subjects Taita (African people) - Social life and, Taita (African people) - Rites and ceremonies
  • Library of Congress Catalogue Number 2008000461
  • Dewey Decimal Code 305.896

Media reviews

Citations

  • Chronicle of Higher Education, 09/05/2008, Page 19

About the author

James Howard Smith is assistant professor of anthropology at the University of California, Davis.
Back to top↑

More Copies for Sale

Bewitching Development: Witchcraft and the Reinvention of Development in Neoliberal Kenya...
Stock photo: cover may vary

Bewitching Development: Witchcraft and the Reinvention of Development in Neoliberal Kenya (Chicago Studies in Practices of Meaning)

by Smith, James Howard

  • Used
  • Hardback
Condition
Used
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780226764573 / 0226764575
Quantity available
1
Seller
Ergodebooks
Item price
A$101.70
A$21.78 Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
University of Chicago Press, 2008-09-01. hardcover. Used: Good. 6.00x0.90x9.00. Buy with confidence. Excellent Customer Service & Return policy.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$101.70
A$21.78 Delivery to USA
Bewitching Development: Witchcraft and the Reinvention of Development in Neoliberal Kenya...
Stock photo: cover may vary

Bewitching Development: Witchcraft and the Reinvention of Development in Neoliberal Kenya (Chicago Studies in Practices of Meaning)

by Smith, James Howard

  • Used
  • Good
  • Hardback
Condition
Good
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780226764573 / 0226764575
Quantity available
1
Seller
Bonita
Item price
A$174.90
Free Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
hardcover. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$174.90
Free Delivery to USA
Bewitching Development: Witchcraft and the Reinvention of Development in Neoliberal Kenya...
Stock photo: cover may vary

Bewitching Development: Witchcraft and the Reinvention of Development in Neoliberal Kenya (Chicago Studies in Practices of Meaning)

by Smith, James Howard

  • New
  • Hardback
Condition
New
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780226764573 / 0226764575
Quantity available
1
Seller
Ergodebooks
Item price
A$229.36
A$21.78 Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
University of Chicago Press, 2008-09-01. hardcover. New. 6.00x0.90x9.00. Buy with confidence. Excellent Customer Service & Return policy.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$229.36
A$21.78 Delivery to USA
Show all copies
Back to top↑

Please wait a moment while we load the requested page.