The Devil is Disorder: Bodies, Spirits and Misfortune in a Trinidadian Village

Rebecca Lynch

Published by Berghahn Books 2020

The Devil is Disorder

Bodies, Spirits and Misfortune in a Trinidadian Village

Rebecca Lynch

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781789204889

Overview
Contents

About this book

What role might the Devil have in health and illness? The Devil is Disorder explores constructions of the body, health, illness and wider misfortune in a Trinidadian village where evangelical Christianity is growing in popularity. Based on long-term ethnography and locating the village in historical and global context, the book takes a nuanced cosmological approach to situate evangelical Christian understandings as shaping and being shaped by their context and, in the process, shaping individuals themselves. As people move from local to global subjects, health here stretches beyond being a matter of individual bodies and is connected to worldwide flows and networks, spirit entities, and expansive moral orders.

Author / Editor information

Rebecca Lynch is Research Fellow in Medical Anthropology at King’s College London. She completed her PhD in Social Anthropology at University College London and has undertaken ethnographic work in Trinidad and the UK. Among other areas she has published on different sociocultural, moral and biomedical constructions of the body, health and illness and has edited three books that seek to expand approaches to the body and health.

Reviews

“Based on a rich and refined ethnography, this book shows the powerful connections existing in contemporary societies between health, illness, and religion…The book shows us exactly how necessary and fruitful is to focus on the relations between heath and illness, on the one hand, and the interpretations of evil, on both individual and collective levels, on the other.” • Religion and Society

“[A] Fascinating and detailed account of local medicine, morality and metaphysics in Trinidad. Excellent ethnographic vignettes and vigorous conclusions; a major contribution to current debates on religion and modernity.” • Roland Littlewood, University College London

“The Devil is Disorder covers an area often overlooked in medical anthropology – the link to religious beliefs and practices. The author shows impressively the relevance of taking religion into account when studying medicine. Her study also highlights the dynamic nature of cultures and the adaptability of traditions.” • Bettina Schmidt, University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Figures Publicly Available Download PDF	vi
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	viii
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1 Trinidad Village Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	31
2 The Material and Other Worlds Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	53
3 Cosmological Crafting and Storytelling Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	77
4 The Body and Health Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	105
5 The Devil in the Body Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	129
6 Healing the Body Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	148
7 The Devil in the Village and in the State Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	171
8 The Devil Is Disorder Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	193
Conclusion: Job, Justice and Moral Order Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	222
Appendix: Churches in the Village Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	227
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	233
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	243