Journeying into the experiences of persons accused of witchcraft: rethinking development theory and practice

Abstract

Regarding controversies and debates around ‘witch camps’ and whether or not they should be abolished, there are several issues that directly speak to the gaps in development scholarship, policy and practice. These gaps manifest in how individuals experience and understand their circumstances and how development interventions are designed, planned, and executed. In this article, I explore how individuals accused of witchcraft speak about themselves and their circumstances from three levels: rumour/gossip, accusation/confrontation, and eviction/banishment. I assert that there is discord between the perceived over-concentration of development interventions in the communities that offer refuge after displacement compared to other levels. Though intervening in such communities is essential, I argue that the broader debates are fixated on the existence (or lack thereof) of witchcraft. This leads to conversations that centre around whether such communities should be closed, and individuals accused of witchcraft allowed to return home. In these debates, the experiences of persons accused of witchcraft are footnotes in the argument. Although the study of witchcraft beliefs and practices is significant and has generated an impressive body of theories and debates, the issue of development intervention is relatively unexplored at the three levels mentioned above. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the Gnani community of northern Ghana, this paper highlights the implications of the problematic development constructs and subjectivities that are framed around the closure of receiving communities, eliding a more nuanced understanding of individual persons’ concerns and desires at each of the three levels. There is a need for development to be more responsive to how individuals express themselves and understand their circumstances before support or intervention can be leveraged.

Dans les controverses et les débats autour des « camps de sorcières » et de la question de savoir s'ils doivent être abolis ou non, plusieurs questions concernent directement les lacunes dans les connaissances et la pratique du développement. Ces lacunes se manifestent dans la manière dont les personnes individuelles vivent et comprennent leur situation et dans la manière dont les interventions de développement sont conçues, planifiées et exécutées. Dans cet article, j'explore comment les personnes accusées de sorcellerie parlent d'elles-mêmes et de leur situation à trois niveaux: rumeur/commérage, accusation/confrontation et expulsion/bannissement. J'affirme qu'il existe une discorde entre la surconcentration perçue des interventions de développement dans les communautés qui offrent un refuge après leur déplacement, et d'autres niveaux. Il est essentiel d'intervenir dans de telles communautés, mais je soutiens que les débats plus larges sont obsédés par l'existence ou l'absence de sorcellerie. Cela entraine des discussions sur le fait que ces communautés devraient être fermées et les personnes accusées de sorcellerie autorisées à rentrer chez elles. Dans ces débats, on donne peu de place aux expériences réelles des personnes accusées de sorcellerie aux différentes étapes.

Keywords:

• witchcraft
• development
• interventions
• witch camps
• rumours

Mots clés:

• sorcellerie
• développement
• interventions
• camps de sorcières
• rumeurs

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank all individuals in Ghana who have generously given their time and shared their intimate stories regarding their journeys into Gnani-Tindang community. I would also like to thank the two anonymous reviewers and the editor, for their extremely useful and constructive feedback on this article. Finally, special thanks go to Dr Violeta Schubert, Associate Professor Kalissa Alexeyeff and Dr. Samuelson Appau, for their comments on previous drafts. Research conducted in Ghana in 2016- 2017 upon which this article draws was supported through The University of Melbourne International Research Scholarship. Witch Camps and Witchcraft Discourse in Africa Critiquing Development Practice' 2023 with Copyright © 2023 by The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Statement of Ethics

The research was conducted with approval from University of Melbourne. Ethical approval was obtained from the ethics committee at University University of Melbourne. Permission to conduct the interviews for the purposes of this research was obtained from each community leader/local authority. All respondents were fully informed about the purposes of this research and how their responses would be used and stored. All interviewees have been anonymised and gave consent to be interviewed for the purposes of this research. The interviewer clearly communicated the scope and purpose of the research project to all interviewees. All interviewees gave consent to be interviewed for the purposes of this research. All interviewees also consented to interviews being used for publication purposes.