Engaging Evil: A Moral Anthropology

Published by Berghahn Books 2019

Engaging Evil

A Moral Anthropology

Edited by: William C. Olsen and Thomas J. Csordas

Volume 36 in the series Methodology & History in Anthropology

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781789202144

Overview
Contents

About this book

Anthropologists have expressed wariness about the concept of evil even in discussions of morality and ethics, in part because the concept carries its own cultural baggage and theological implications in Euro-American societies. Addressing the problem of evil as a distinctly human phenomenon and a category of ethnographic analysis, this volume shows the usefulness of engaging evil as a descriptor of empirical reality where concepts such as violence, criminality, and hatred fall short of capturing the darkest side of human existence.

Author / Editor information

William C. Olsen is a lecturer for anthropology and African studies at Georgetown University.

Thomas J. Csordas is Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and James Y. Chan Presidential Chair in Global Health at the University of California, San Diego.

William C. Olsen is a lecturer for anthropology and African studies at Georgetown University.

Reviews

“The volume brings nuance, complexity and ethnographic thickness to recent debates in moral anthropology, showing that anthropology is far from being ‘secure’ in its distinction between good and evil while studying suffering, and that an anthropology of evil must complement the anthropology of the good. The book is a must for anthropologists working on morality, but it is also an enticing invitation for those working on suffering, violence and structural injustice to explore the usefulness of evil as analytical category, beyond the study of emic notions.” • Social Anthropology

“The various contributions offer a rich and highly variegated overview of how anthropologists have dealt with ‘evil’ and thus give a good idea of the baffling variety hiding behind this notion.” • Peter Geschiere, University of Amsterdam

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
FIGURES Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	viii
INTRODUCTION William C. Olsen and Thomas J. Csordas Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
PART I Evil and Anthropology
Chapter 1 FROM THEODICY TO HOMODICY: EVIL AS AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL PROBLEM Thomas J. Csordas Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	35
Chapter 2 ON THE CONCEPT OF “EVIL” IN ANTHROPOLOGICAL ANALYSES OF POLITICAL VIOLENCE Byron J. Good Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	51
PART II Evil and Suffering
Chapter 3 SPEAK NO EVIL: INVERSION AND EVASION IN INDONESIA Andrew Beatty Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	71
Chapter 4 MOTHER EVIL IN HELL VALLEY: A CREOLE TRANSVALORIZATION OF EVIL IN TRINIDAD Roland Littlewood Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	95
Chapter 5 SATAN ON THE OLD KENT ROAD: ARTICULATIONS OF EVIL IN A PENTECOSTAL DIASPORA Simon Coleman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	111
Chapter 6 THE TRANSFORMATION OF EVIL IN NEPAL David N. Gellner Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	133
Chapter 7 RADICAL EVIL AND THE NOTION OF CONSCIENCE: A BUDDHIST MEDITATION ON CHRISTIAN SOTERIOLOGY Gananath Obeyesekere Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	156
Chapter 8 ARE SPIRITS SATANIC? THE AMBIGUITY OF EVIL IN NIGER Adeline Masquelier Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	177
PART III Evil and Violence
Chapter 9 ENGAGING EVIL AND EXCESS IN PALESTINE/ISRAEL Julie Peteet Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	199
Chapter 10 THE VIOLENCE OF EVIL: A BIOCULTURAL APPROACH TO VIOLENCE, MEMORY, AND PAIN Ventura R. Pérez Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	225
Chapter 11 THE INTENTION OF EVIL: ASRAM IN ASANTE William C. Olsen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	254
Chapter 12 MONSTERS, SADISTS, AND THE UNSPECTACULAR TORTURE EXPERIENCE Nerina Weiss Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	275
AFTERWORD David Parkin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	297
AUTHORS AND INSTITUTIONS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	307
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	309

Language: English
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 322

eBook

Published: May 3, 2019
ISBN: 9781789202144