From witch hunts in medieval Europe to modern "healers" in the Balkans and Tanzania, the belief in witchcraft has existed in various human societies throughout history.
Anthropologists have long been interested in this phenomenon, but their efforts to study its impact on the past and present lives of those accused of witchcraft face quite predictable obstacles, such as the difficulty of studying the phenomenon quantitatively. This is why it is difficult to expand our understanding of how and why accusations of witchcraft arise and how they affect the social life of "witches."
Punishment
However, a study by anthropologists from three universities in China provided an opportunity to test the most common hypothesis, which is that accusations of witchcraft act as punishment for those who refuse to follow local codes of conduct.
According to this theory, witches are called those whom the majority fear to trust, in addition, accusations of witchcraft serve as a way to control society, encouraging all its members to behave as required by tradition and norms.
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Research progress
The study was conducted in 800 households in five villages in the southwest region of China. Anthropologists have investigated the social behavior of those who were openly or covertly accused of "witchcraft" and compared it with the behavior of the majority.
The study, published in the journal The Nature of Human Behavior, was the result of a long-term collaboration between scientists from University College London, the University of Beijing at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Lanzhou University.
Social connections
To determine the social ties and levels of cooperation between households, anthropologists conducted several surveys, clarifying whether the bonds unite households - marriage, kinship, or working relationship? In addition, anthropologists have clarified other elements of social interaction, such as friendship, gift-giving, and mutual assistance during the harvest season.
All these data made it possible to identify four blocks of social interaction in the studied region. Most long-term relationships are based on family ties, marriage, friendship and gift exchange, and working relationships.
Insulation
During interviews, local residents often warned anthropologists that certain houses were inhabited by "witches" who could poison them, and advised them not to sit down at the table in these houses. To the surprise of anthropologists, the number of such houses was about 13% of all surveyed households.
Accusations of witchcraft most often meant a certain level of isolation of the inhabitants of those households where the "witches" live. Those from these households rarely had children, marriages, or regular working relationships with the majority. At the same time, the "witches" did not exchange gifts with the rest of the villagers and rarely helped them with harvesting or other agricultural work.
However, the “accused” households often helped each other and maintained the same blocks of relationships among themselves as in most homes.
Economic game
Anthropologists also offered the participants an "economic game" where each person was given a small sum of money and asked to donate some of it to the needs of the village.
The results of the economic game showed that "witches" behave in the same way as most people. They also donate money for village needs, despite the fact that they are practically isolated from society.
The reasons
In fact, anthropologists concluded that the households accused of witchcraft were very similar to other households. The only thing that most often distinguished them was the matriarchal structure of their family. At the head of the "witch" houses were most often women who, despite the absence of the patriarch, did an excellent job with the household and were even more successful.
In addition, scientists have rarely been able to figure out exactly what led to the accusations of witchcraft. The process of isolating entire households on the basis of belonging to "witches" turned out to be extremely opaque and confusing.
Even the victims often did not know who spread the rumors about them, some just beginning to notice that the majority avoided them. Sometimes the status of "witch" is inherited from mothers to daughters.
Interpreting Results
Anthropologists believe that fear of losing reputation may be the main driver of social cooperation in the wider society.
In addition, a timely accusation of witchcraft thrown at a neighbor may be a way to outrun rivals and gain a competitive advantage in resources, assistance, and even better marriage prospects.
However, this is difficult to prove in the real world. Most research on witchcraft and its impact on social norms is not quantitative and rarely examines entire social groups. It is especially difficult to understand why some households have been successful in maintaining their reputation despite repeated attempts to accuse them of witchcraft, while others have been rumored for generations.
Theories
All over the world, the concepts of witchcraft share many similarities. For example, middle-aged women are the most frequent victims, and accusations of poisoning are the most frequent causes. But there are also many differences.
Another idea of the origin of accusations of witchcraft and their negative impact on the social life of "witches" is that they appear when patriarchal institutions try to dominate matriarchal ones.
Threat to patriarchy
The patriarchal idea of accusations of witchcraft might also explain the fact that women are the most frequent victims. Anthropologists argue that it is the fear of the collapse of the patriarchy that is causing the modern attacks on women. For example, it is women who fall prey to most cases of intimidation and threats on the web, especially among gamers, which are often considered extremely patriarchal.
The more research anthropologists do, the clearer the mechanisms behind the methods of threat and isolation that can be devastating to women around the world become.
Hope Chikanchi