OBEAH, VAGRANCY, AND THE BOUNDARIES OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: ANALYZING THE PROSCRIPTION OF "PRETENDING TO POSSESS SUPERNATURAL POWERS" IN THE ANGLOPHONE CARIBBEAN
The practice of obeah, a term used to refer to a variety of African derived spiritual practices, remains proscribed in at least fourteen countries or territories in the Anglophone Caribbean today. This article examines the historical development of these laws and the significance of the continued pr...
| Auteur principal: | |
|---|---|
| Type de support: | Électronique Article |
| Langue: | Anglais |
| Vérifier la disponibilité: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | En cours de chargement...
|
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Publié: |
[2017]
|
| Dans: |
Journal of law and religion
Année: 2017, Volume: 32, Numéro: 3, Pages: 423-448 |
| Sujets / Chaînes de mots-clés standardisés: | B
Anglophone Karibik
/ Obeah
/ Liberté religieuse
|
| Classifications IxTheo: | AZ Nouveau mouvement religieux KBR Amérique Latine |
| Sujets non-standardisés: | B
Witchcraft
B Africa B vagrancy B Caribbean B Obeah |
| Accès en ligne: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (doi) |
| Résumé: | The practice of obeah, a term used to refer to a variety of African derived spiritual practices, remains proscribed in at least fourteen countries or territories in the Anglophone Caribbean today. This article examines the historical development of these laws and the significance of the continued prohibition of obeah. Although obeah laws were initially modeled on British statutes banning vagrancy and witchcraft, and were passed during a period when it was common for nations in the Western Hemisphere to prohibit the practice of African diaspora faiths, these statutes stand in stark contrast to the religious freedoms guaranteed in other parts of the Atlantic world in the twenty-first century. Obeah laws proscribe the mere performance of certain spiritual rituals, while other countries modified their policies in the mid-twentieth century to require evidence of intentional fraud and financial gain to convict occult practitioners. This article links the continued proscription of obeah to nineteenth century assertions that African peoples were animists and fetishists, as well as to long-standing hierarchies in the Western world placing theistic religions above those centered on spirit conjuring, divination, and the manipulation of supernatural forces. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2163-3088 |
| Contient: | Enthalten in: Journal of law and religion
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/jlr.2017.44 |
