1 double, double toil and trouble: an investigation on occult forces expenditures in the heartland...

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1 Double, double toil and trouble: An investigation on occult forces expenditures in the heartland of voodoo Vincent Somville (Michelsen Institute, Bergen) Joël Noret (Université Libre de Bruxelles) Philippe LeMay-Boucher (Heriot-Watt University)

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Page 1: 1 Double, double toil and trouble: An investigation on occult forces expenditures in the heartland of voodoo Vincent Somville (Michelsen Institute, Bergen)

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Double, double toil and trouble:

An investigation on occult forces expenditures in the heartland of

voodoo

Vincent Somville (Michelsen Institute, Bergen)

Joël Noret (Université Libre de Bruxelles)

Philippe LeMay-Boucher (Heriot-Watt University)

Page 2: 1 Double, double toil and trouble: An investigation on occult forces expenditures in the heartland of voodoo Vincent Somville (Michelsen Institute, Bergen)

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Preliminary considerationsPreliminary considerations

Preconception that in Beninese (West-African) context occult forces were anecdotal

A mere tourist trap advertised at Beninese consulates.

But among locals : recurrent topic, something affecting daily lives, deeply rooted & pervasive

Page 3: 1 Double, double toil and trouble: An investigation on occult forces expenditures in the heartland of voodoo Vincent Somville (Michelsen Institute, Bergen)

Preliminary considerationsPreliminary considerations• ‘High representatives of established

Christian churches, such as the bishops of Lagos and Kinshasa, believe in witchcraft.’

• According to the latter, this belief is shared by about 80% of all Africans.

• ‘Even African scholars and decision makers, educated in renowned Western universities, strongly share witchcraft beliefs according to occasion, more or less openly.’(Kohnert, 1983; Kadya Tall, 1995)

Page 4: 1 Double, double toil and trouble: An investigation on occult forces expenditures in the heartland of voodoo Vincent Somville (Michelsen Institute, Bergen)

Preliminary considerationsPreliminary considerations• Jenkins and Curtis (2005) (SSM):

What drives decision to install a pit latrine in rural Benin (40 hh)?

→Protect from supernatural dangers (is one of the 3 main drive)

• A Latrine can prevent / attenuate:

1) Fear of supernatural illnesses caused by smelling or seeing others’ faeces

2) Fear of encountering a snake: a sign of impending death in family / Fear of voodoo sorcery, magic, and dead spirits in the night

3) Fear of enemies stealing your faeces for sorcery against you

Page 5: 1 Double, double toil and trouble: An investigation on occult forces expenditures in the heartland of voodoo Vincent Somville (Michelsen Institute, Bergen)

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Based on field evidence collected in Cotonou Benin (2006):

What hh & ind. characteristics influence expenditures in occult forces?

Anthropologist preoccupied by question for a long time

Will our empirical evidence corroborate their findings?

Research AimResearch Aim

Page 6: 1 Double, double toil and trouble: An investigation on occult forces expenditures in the heartland of voodoo Vincent Somville (Michelsen Institute, Bergen)

Some of our key findingsSome of our key findings

Spending in Occult Forces is not anecdotal

48% of all hh in our dataset spend positive amount in ‘Protection & Cure’

Expenditure on ‘Protection & Cure’ :

2.7% of all monthly expenditure

5.6% if we take subsample with non zero exp.

Our findings corroborate anthropologist assertions

Page 7: 1 Double, double toil and trouble: An investigation on occult forces expenditures in the heartland of voodoo Vincent Somville (Michelsen Institute, Bergen)

What are occult forces?What are occult forces?

Example: the granary & the death (Evans-Pritchard 1937)

How? = termites

Why? = occult forces give answer

Offers explanation to misfortune

Complex institutional system

Page 8: 1 Double, double toil and trouble: An investigation on occult forces expenditures in the heartland of voodoo Vincent Somville (Michelsen Institute, Bergen)

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What are occult forces?What are occult forces?

Catch-all term: different practices from region to region

Mystical & super-natural power: good, evil, causation; coherent ideology for daily living

→ gives interpretations of misfortune

Not ‘belief’ about the world but self-evident & real force

Plurality of meanings, not all of them associated with harmful activities

Page 9: 1 Double, double toil and trouble: An investigation on occult forces expenditures in the heartland of voodoo Vincent Somville (Michelsen Institute, Bergen)

Example of a client Example of a client

• young father from a poor rural background: recently graduated from university

• Series of misfortunes in the last 6 months: child becoming ill + wife discovers she can no longer become pregnant.

• Interpretation: comes from an attack by occult forces →retaliation from his siblings who never

attended high school and remained in the village.

• To cure his household: buys services from local diviner.

Page 10: 1 Double, double toil and trouble: An investigation on occult forces expenditures in the heartland of voodoo Vincent Somville (Michelsen Institute, Bergen)

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Principal MechanismPrincipal Mechanism

jealousy, familial dispute over

heritage, unsettled legal dispute (land

ownership), professional progression

Tensions

Occult forces?Symptoms:

1)Uncured illness, biomedical

failed, sterility/death

2)Accumulation of misfortunes

(unempl, children failing

school)Visit / diagnosis

Step towards protection/

cure

1. Priest of the Fafor a diagnosis (100-500F)

2. Celestial Church of Christone candle, 25-100F

3. Pastor of Evangelical Church

4. Catholic Priest

Page 11: 1 Double, double toil and trouble: An investigation on occult forces expenditures in the heartland of voodoo Vincent Somville (Michelsen Institute, Bergen)

1. Witchcraft / Sorcery1. Witchcraft / Sorcery

Harm/good done by witch/sorcerers who possess supernatural powers (no divinity)

Witch: natural talent

Sorcerer: uses ‘ingredients’ & incantations

Evil magic consciously practiced against others

Both low profile (fear of accusations)

Services not for sale

Page 12: 1 Double, double toil and trouble: An investigation on occult forces expenditures in the heartland of voodoo Vincent Somville (Michelsen Institute, Bergen)

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2. System of Magical belief: Voodoo2. System of Magical belief: Voodoo

Complex pantheon of divinities

Voodoos = divinities with super powers, fear & devotion surrounding them

Perennial relationships: humans honoring them

Rituals & sacrifices required to activate specific powers

Breach of rules (or insufficient sacrifices) provoke their anger (→ illness, death)

Page 13: 1 Double, double toil and trouble: An investigation on occult forces expenditures in the heartland of voodoo Vincent Somville (Michelsen Institute, Bergen)

Voodoo, cont.Voodoo, cont.

Voodoo powers for sale

Tariffs flexible, depending on means of client

Suffice to ask a voodoo’s priest for an ‘attack’: ‘ingredients’, incantations & breach of rule

Page 14: 1 Double, double toil and trouble: An investigation on occult forces expenditures in the heartland of voodoo Vincent Somville (Michelsen Institute, Bergen)

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Whose decision to spend?Whose decision to spend?

Household financial structure: husband & wife have separate financial spheres (Dagnelie et al. 2012)

Each latitude to make consumption decision on basis of own income

Page 15: 1 Double, double toil and trouble: An investigation on occult forces expenditures in the heartland of voodoo Vincent Somville (Michelsen Institute, Bergen)

Provision of household goods:Social norms

Provision of household goods:Social norms

Husband (breadwinner): house repair, rental fees, electricity, schooling fees, medical bills, extra money for housekeeping (complement wife’s contribution)

Occult forces : if hh is headed by a couple vast majority of cases males take in charge

Wife: cooking, care of family, water

Documented by: Falen (2003) + our numerous informal interviews + our descriptive stats

Page 16: 1 Double, double toil and trouble: An investigation on occult forces expenditures in the heartland of voodoo Vincent Somville (Michelsen Institute, Bergen)

The datasetThe dataset

Questionnaire in 2 parts: a) Households characteristics, b) Personal expenditures

Separated women/men interviews

178 households, only head of household

Data on expenditures on Occult Forces:

PROTECTION or CURE

→ Nothing on ‘attack’

Page 17: 1 Double, double toil and trouble: An investigation on occult forces expenditures in the heartland of voodoo Vincent Somville (Michelsen Institute, Bergen)

• See Table 1: Categories of magico-religious expenditure.

Page 18: 1 Double, double toil and trouble: An investigation on occult forces expenditures in the heartland of voodoo Vincent Somville (Michelsen Institute, Bergen)

Hypotheses from literatureHypotheses from literature

(1) Use/belief in occult forces is not gender-specific

(2) Use/belief is common at different levels of education

(3) Use/belief is common among various religious affiliation.

Exception: Celestial, pentecostal, rosarian Evangelical churches provide protection against occult forces

Page 19: 1 Double, double toil and trouble: An investigation on occult forces expenditures in the heartland of voodoo Vincent Somville (Michelsen Institute, Bergen)

Hypotheses, cont.Hypotheses, cont.

(4) Do Magico-religious beliefs play an important role in the enforcement of redistributive norms?

Income itself: no (can be concealed)

Item highly visible: auto/motorcycle

(5) Higher transfer to hh & relatives reduces jealousy & need for protection/cure

Current transfers (endogenous): transfers (t-1) in 2004

(6) Death or funerals are great source of tensions.

dummy if funeral inside family within last year

Page 20: 1 Double, double toil and trouble: An investigation on occult forces expenditures in the heartland of voodoo Vincent Somville (Michelsen Institute, Bergen)

• Descriptive Stats: Table 2

• Estimation results: Table 4

Page 21: 1 Double, double toil and trouble: An investigation on occult forces expenditures in the heartland of voodoo Vincent Somville (Michelsen Institute, Bergen)

ConclusionsConclusions

Spending in Occult Forces is not anecdotal

Expenditure on ‘Protection & Cure’ : around 2% of all monthly expenditure

Dataset seems to give evidence in favour of anthropologist assertions

Larger prop. of HH spend on Occult forces than on bio-medical treatments