Enchanted Calvinism's central proposition is that Ghanaian Presbyterian communities, both past and present, have become significantly more enchanted--that is, more attuned to spiritual explanations of and remedies for suffering--as they have become more integrated into capitalist modes of produ...

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Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	Mohr, Adam (Author)
Format:	Electronic eBook
Language:	English
Published:	Suffolk Boydell & Brewer 2013
Subjects:	Presbyterian Church of Ghana Christentum Kapitalismus Medizin Religion Spiritual healing / Ghana Spiritual healing / Christianity Healing / Ghana / Religious aspects Healing / Religious aspects / Christianity Ghanaians / United States / Religion Akan (African people) / Medicine Capitalism / Ghana / Religious aspects Geistheilung USA
Online Access:	DE-12 DE-473 Volltext
Summary:	Enchanted Calvinism's central proposition is that Ghanaian Presbyterian communities, both past and present, have become significantly more enchanted--that is, more attuned to spiritual explanations of and remedies for suffering--as they have become more integrated into capitalist modes of production. The author draws on a specific Weberian concept of religious enchantment to frame the discussion of spiritual affliction and spiritual healing within the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, particularly under the conditions of labor migration: first, in the early twentieth century during the cocoa boom in Ghana and second, at the turn of the twenty-first century in the context of the healthcare migration from Ghana to North America. Relying on extensive archival research, oral historical interviews, and participant-observation group interviews conducted in North America, Europe, and West Africa, the study provides evidence that the more these Ghanaian Calvinists became dependent on capitalist modes of production, the more enchanted their lives, and, subsequently, their church became, although in different ways within these two migrations. One striking pattern that has emerged among Ghanaian Presbyterian labor migrants in North America, for example, is a radical shift in gendered healing practices, where women have become prominent healers, while a significant number of men have become spirit-possessed. Adam Mohr is a Senior Writing Fellow in Anthropology with the Critical Writing Program at the University of Pennsylvania
Item Description:	Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 02 Oct 2015)
Physical Description:	1 online resource (xiii, 234 pages)
ISBN:	9781580468169