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Witchcraft and Welfare : Spiritual Capital and the Business of Magic in Modern Puerto Rico by Raquel Romberg (2003, Mass Market)

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About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherUniversity of Texas Press

ISBN-100292771266

ISBN-139780292771260

eBay Product ID (ePID)2382390

Product Key Features

Number of Pages336 Pages

Publication NameWitchcraft and Welfare : Spiritual Capital and the Business of Magic in Modern Puerto Rico

LanguageEnglish

Publication Year2003

SubjectWitchcraft (See Also Religion / Wicca), Magick Studies, Anthropology / General, Caribbean & West Indies / General

TypeTextbook

AuthorRaquel Romberg

Subject AreaBody, Mind & Spirit, Social Science, History

FormatMass Market

Dimensions

Item Height0.8 in

Item Weight17.8 Oz

Item Length8.9 in

Item Width6.3 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceScholarly & Professional

LCCN2002-015171

ReviewsOverall, Witchcraft and Welfare is an excellent analysis of Puerto Rican Brujería and other African diasporic religions. This book, however, is not only useful for students and scholars of Puerto Rican or Caribbean culture and religion. It is also, through its ingenious analysis of the influences of 21st century globalization on the processes of syncretization, a window on the macrocosm of future trends in world religion., Witchcraft and Welfareis a delightful and insightful book, evocative and well-written, which unpacks the multilayered history of Puerto Rican folk beliefs and practices convincingly showing not only how brujería makes sense in people's everyday lives, but also how it is becoming institutionalised as an integral part of official Puerto Rican society, and indeed how beliefs and practices of this kind can be complementary, not opposed, to bureaucratic rationality., Witchcraft and Welfare is a delightful and insightful book, evocative and well-written, which unpacks the multilayered history of Puerto Rican folk beliefs and practices convincingly showing not only how brujer a makes sense in people's everyday lives, but also how it is becoming institutionalised as an integral part of official Puerto Rican society, and indeed how beliefs and practices of this kind can be complementary, not opposed, to bureaucratic rationality., Witchcraft and Welfare is a delightful and insightful book, evocative and well-written, which unpacks the multilayered history of Puerto Rican folk beliefs and practices convincingly showing not only how brujería makes sense in people's everyday lives, but also how it is becoming institutionalised as an integral part of official Puerto Rican society, and indeed how beliefs and practices of this kind can be complementary, not opposed, to bureaucratic rationality., Overall, Witchcraft and Welfare is an excellent analysis of Puerto Rican Brujer a and other African diasporic religions. This book, however, is not only useful for students and scholars of Puerto Rican or Caribbean culture and religion. It is also, through its ingenious analysis of the influences of 21st century globalization on the processes of syncretization, a window on the macrocosm of future trends in world religion., Overall,Witchcraft and Welfareis an excellent analysis of Puerto Rican Brujería and other African diasporic religions. This book, however, is not only useful for students and scholars of Puerto Rican or Caribbean culture and religion. It is also, through its ingenious analysis of the influences of 21st century globalization on the processes of syncretization, a window on the macrocosm of future trends in world religion., Witchcraft and Welfareis a delightful and insightful book, evocative and well-written, which unpacks the multilayered history of Puerto Rican folk beliefs and practices convincingly showing not only how brujera makes sense in people's everyday lives, but also how it is becoming institutionalised as an integral part of official Puerto Rican society, and indeed how beliefs and practices of this kind can be complementary, not opposed, to bureaucratic rationality., "Witchcraft and Welfare is a delightful and insightful book, evocative and well-written, which unpacks the multilayered history of Puerto Rican folk beliefs and practices . . . "--Anthropos, 100.2005"This book makes an important addition to the literature on magic and spirits in the modern world. . . . In comparison with other well-known anthropological works on magic and modernity, this stands out on account of its skill at evocation, at getting inside people and events and not merely using them as examples or 'case studies.'" Michael Taussig, Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University, Overall,Witchcraft and Welfareis an excellent analysis of Puerto Rican Brujera and other African diasporic religions. This book, however, is not only useful for students and scholars of Puerto Rican or Caribbean culture and religion. It is also, through its ingenious analysis of the influences of 21st century globalization on the processes of syncretization, a window on the macrocosm of future trends in world religion.

Dewey Edition21

IllustratedYes

Dewey Decimal133.4/3/097295

Table Of ContentPreface Acknowledgments Introduction: Ritual Alchemy Part I. Shifting Faces Chapter One. Gatekeepers and Heretics: Disputing Sacred Territories Chapter Two. Nation Building and the Secularization of Spirituality Chapter Three. Spiritual Laissez-Faire and the Commodification of Faith Part II. The Technologies of Cosmic and Worldly Success Chapter Four. Brujos, Saints or Brokers? Chapter Five. Spiritual Assets and the Entanglements of Power Chapter Six. The Global Bazaar of Spiritual Enterprise Chapter Seven. The Moral Economy of Bureaucratic Providence Chapter Eight. Advocates and Lawyers of Another Order Epilogue: The Halloween Extravaganza Notes Bibliography Index

SynopsisPersecuted as evil during colonial times, considered charlatans during the nation-building era, Puerto Rican brujos (witch-healers) today have become spiritual entrepreneurs who advise their clients not only in consultation with the spirits but also in compliance with state laws and new economic opportunities. Combining trance, dance, magic, and healing practices with expertise in the workings of the modern welfare state, they help lawyers win custody suits, sick employees resolve labor disability claims, single mothers apply for government housing, or corporation managers maximize their commercial skills. Drawing on extensive fieldwork among practicing brujos, this book presents a masterful history and ethnography of Puerto Rican brujería (witch-healing). Raquel Romberg explores how brujería emerged from a blending of popular Catholicism, Afro-Latin religions, French Spiritism, and folk Protestantism and also looks at how it has adapted to changes in state policies and responded to global flows of ideas and commodities. She demonstrates that, far from being an exotic or marginal practice in the modern world, brujería has become an invisible yet active partner of consumerism and welfare capitalism., A masterful ethnography of Puerto Rican brujos, who advise their clients not only in consultation with the spirits but also in compliance with state laws and new economic opportunities., Persecuted as evil during colonial times, considered charlatans during the nation-building era, Puerto Rican brujos (witch-healers) today have become spiritual entrepreneurs who advise their clients not only in consultation with the spirits but also in compliance with state laws and new economic opportunities. Combining trance, dance, magic, and healing practices with expertise in the workings of the modern welfare state, they help lawyers win custody suits, sick employees resolve labor disability claims, single mothers apply for government housing, or corporation managers maximize their commercial skills. Drawing on extensive fieldwork among practicing brujos, this book presents a masterful history and ethnography of Puerto Rican brujer a (witch-healing). Raquel Romberg explores how brujer a emerged from a blending of popular Catholicism, Afro-Latin religions, French Spiritism, and folk Protestantism and also looks at how it has adapted to changes in state policies and responded to global flows of ideas and commodities. She demonstrates that, far from being an exotic or marginal practice in the modern world, brujer a has become an invisible yet active partner of consumerism and welfare capitalism.

LC Classification NumberBF1584.P9R66 2003