Magic and Warfare: Appearance and Reality in Contemporary African Conflict and Beyond PDF
Preview Magic and Warfare: Appearance and Reality in Contemporary African Conflict and Beyond
Magic and Warfare This page intentionally left blank Magic and Warfare Appearance and Reality in Contemporary African Conflict and Beyond N W ATHALIE LODARCZYK MAGIC AND WARFARE Copyright © Nathalie Wlodarczyk, 2009. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2009 978-0-230-62102-2 All rights reserved. First published in 2009 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-38313-9 ISBN 978-0-230-10334-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230103344 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wlodarczyk, Nathalie. Magic and warfare : appearance and reality in contemporary African conflict and beyond / Nathalie Wlodarczyk. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-349-38313-9 1. Sierra Leone—History—Civil War, 1991–2002—Religious aspects. 2. Military art and science—Sierra Leone. 3. Magic—Political aspects— Sierra Leone. 4. Shamans—Sierra Leone. 5. War and society—Sierra Leone. 6. Ethnic conflict—Africa—Case studies. 7. War—Religious aspects—Case studies. 8. Military art and science—Africa—Case studies. 9. Magic—Political aspects—Africa—Case studies. 10. War and society—Africa—Case studies. I. Title. DT516.826.W55 2009 966.404—dc22 2009013783 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: November 2009 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Always use the word “Africa” or “Darkness” or “Safari” in your title. Subtitles may include the words “Zanzibar,” “Masai,” “Zulu,” “Zambezi,” “Congo,” “Nile,” “Big,” “Sky,” “Shadow,” “Drum,” “Sun,” or “Bygone.” Also useful are words such as “Guerrillas,’ ” “Timeless,” “Primordial,” and “Tribal.” Note that “People” means Africans who are not black, while “The People” means black Africans. Binyavanga Wainaina, “How to Write about Africa,” A View from Africa (London: Granta, 2005) One would have hoped that by now we would have broken the habit of identifying those traits which seem to make us ostensibly unlike others—the color of our skin, the language we speak, the food we eat, the beliefs we espouse—and come to terms with what all human beings have in common, for better or worse, and seeing beneath the surface of cultural differences, comparable imperatives, logics and dispositions. Michael Jackson, In Sierra Leone (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2005) This page intentionally left blank Contents List of Map, Table and Figures ix Acknowledgments xi Acronyms xiii Brief Chronology of the Sierra Leone Civil War (1991–2002) xv Brief Chronology of the Civil Defense during Its Main Mobilization Period (1992–1998) xvii 1 Introduction 1 Part I 2 “Magic” in Contemporary Africa 13 3 Spirits in Battle 27 4 Thinking about Practice in Warfare 41 Part II 5 Notes on the Case Study 55 6 The Sierra Leone Civil War and Civil Defense 57 7 Spiritual Context as Habitus and Capital 83 8 Creating Magic Soldiers: Kamajor Mobilization and Initiation 93 9 The Kamajors in Battle: Magic, Tactics, and Success 113 viii Contents Part III 10 Local Practice and the Wider World of Warfare 133 Notes 147 Bibliography 171 Index 177 Map, Table and Figures Map 1 Sierra Leone xix Table 6.1 Disarmament figures for the RUF, CDF, and AFRC/ex-SLA 63 Figure 6.1 Command Hierarchy of the Civil Defence Forces in Sierra Leone, June 2007 71 Figure 6.2 CDF military command structure 71 Figure 6.3 CDF organization 72 Figure 6.4 CDF command structure 75
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