In Europe there were tens of thousands of of prosecutions, which can be attributed to the legal process. In Africa however while there have been witch-hunts and witch cleansing, they have not reached the heights that they did Europe. This can in part be attributed to cultural differences and the lack of Christian influence in Africa. Levack seems to argue however that it was in fact a lack of a legal process in Africa that has kept the numbers of the accused from reaching dramatic levels. In Africa the prosecutions and executions were all in the form of vigilante justice. There was no legal process and no torture therefore the cumulative concept could never take root in Africa.
Are there any other reasons that witch-hunts in Africa did not reach dramatic levels?
What other differences do we see between European witch-hunts and African witch-hunts?
I agree with Levack that the main reason that the witch-hunts in Africa has not reached the levels seen at Europe's height is the lack of legal processes and state support. I think that it is more of a organizational difference than ideological and the impact of Christianity or lack thereof is of little difference than the impact of any other religion or culture. The witch-hunts in Europe took centuries to conclude and since the witch-hunts are currently going on in Africa it is possible they have not begun to reach their peak.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with Ian that I do not believe the influence of Christianity is made a drastic difference in the witch hunts mainly because of the time they took to rise and fall in Europe. Any ideological belief that is the majority belief in a region can almost always be used as a scapegoat for humans' actions, especially whenever they, the few, claim to do them for their religion. And whenever I think about the use of legal procedures for helping the witch-hunts in Europe, I also think about the lack there of and what that would cause. African witch-hunts are examples of this very case however, is that not still legal processes. Because there haven't been legal processes instituted to counter the witch-hunts we have observed it could be considered convention or the use of tradition as legal code. Therefore by not doing anything is putting in place a custom or code that allows it to continue.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting to see that the lack of Christianity in the parts of Africa experiencing these witch prosecutions, has played a role. I wonder what these regions' principle religion is? Is it Islam, or indigenous ones? Thanks for the post!
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