Studies in Witchcraft, Magic, War And Peace in Africa

the long version

Magical practices, witchcraft, and warfare in the African continent during the XIX and XX centuries aim to offer here interesting opportunities towards a better understanding not only of African societies, but most of all, of their historical role in numerous political and military conflicts and also within peace-building processes, which represent a continuation of a topic of long-standing concern in African history. Historians took an early interest in magic and the supernatural in African warfare, especially in connection with prophetic anti-colonial resistance movements. This collection extends the time period from the colonial to the post-colonial, but it also broadens the focus from invocations of the supernatural in military and political mobilization, to rituals of healing in post-conflict societies, the latter, until now, being a field more studied by anthropologists.