The trials of Mrs. K. : seeking justice in a world with witches /

The trials of Mrs. K. : seeking justice in a world with witches /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Ashforth, Adam, author.
Imprint:	Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, 2018. ©2018
Description:	xiii, 246 pages ; 23 cm
Language:	English
Subject:	Trials (Witchcraft) -- Malawi. Witchcraft -- Social aspects -- Malawi. Trials (Witchcraft) Witchcraft -- Social aspects. Malawi.
Format:	E-Resource Print Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11660736

Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:	9780226322223 022632222X 9780226322360 022632236X
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-236) and index.
Summary:	In March 2009, in a small town in Malawi, a nurse at the local hospital was accused of teaching witchcraft to children. Amid swirling rumors, Mrs. K. tried to defend her reputation, but the community nevertheless grew increasingly hostile. The legal, social, and psychological trials that she endured in the struggle to clear her name left her life in shambles, and she died a few years later. In The Trials of Mrs. K., Adam Ashforth studies this and similar stories of witchcraft that continue to circulate in Malawi. At the heart of the book is Ashforth?s desire to understand how claims to truth, the pursuit of justice, and demands for security work in contemporary Africa, where stories of witchcraft can be terrifying. Guiding us through the history of legal customs and their interactions with the court of public opinion, Ashforth asks challenging questions about responsibility, occult forces, and the imperfect but vital mechanisms of law. A beautifully written and provocative book, The Trials of Mrs. K. will be an essential text for understanding what justice means in a fragile and dangerous world.

Table of Contents:

The most abhorrent crime
The name of the witch
A fair forum?
A witch in the family
The case of the Kasitos
When a witch confesses
A child's tale
Judgment day for Mrs. K.
Human rights, Norwegians, and the "president of witches"
"Material dreaming" and the ways witchcraft stories work
Truth and consequences: the work of witchcraft stories
In defense of witch trials.