Magic and Warfare: Appearance and Reality in Contemporary African Conflict and Beyond

199 Pages·2009·3.47 MB·English

by  Nathalie Wlodarczyk (auth.)

Magic and Warfare
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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)
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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