This article questions the notion of spirituality through the prism of contemporary practices of ... more This article questions the notion of spirituality through the prism of contemporary practices of spiritual healing in urban Ivory Coast. More specifically, the article draws on stories of therapeutic trajectories undertaken by various categories of urban actors in the context of large-scale therapeutic spaces such as Christian prayer camps and Ruqyah clinics. The analysis focuses on the ways in which these institutions, which are popular with youth and women, are helping to define new ways of looking at spirituality, healing, spiritual afflictions and religiosity. Keywords: Spiritual healing. Spirituality. Public health. Witchcraft. Therapeutic trajectories.
Cet article interroge la notion de spiritualité à travers le prisme des pratiques contemporaines de guérison des maladies spirituelles en Côte d’Ivoire urbaine. Plus spécifiquement, l’article se penche sur les récits de démarches thérapeutiques entreprises par diverses catégories d’acteurs en Côte d’Ivoire urbaine dans des espaces thérapeutiques de grande envergure que sont les camps de prière chrétiens et les cliniques de Roqya. L’analyse met l’accent sur les façons dont ces institutions contribuent à redéfinir de nouvelles façons d’envisager la spiritualité et la guérison des afflictions spirituelles. Mots-clés : Guérison spirituelle, spiritualité, santé publique, sorcellerie, itinéraires thérapeutiques.
The workshop "Occult Afflictions and Public Health: Views from Africa and the African Diaspora", ... more The workshop "Occult Afflictions and Public Health: Views from Africa and the African Diaspora", aims to stimulate an interdisciplinary discussion on the intersection between public health and spiritual healing and illness. It will offer new perspectives on the realities of public health within African countries and among the African diasporas by illuminating the omnipresent yet overlooked issue of occult afflictions-conditions and illnesses that are deemed to be caused by invisible forces such as ancestors, demons, jinns, spirits, witches, and other intangible entities. Occult afflictions have always constituted vital health and social concerns for people living in Africa and in other parts of the world. As evidenced by the continuing massive presence of a wide variety of spiritual healers in urban and rural African milieus, the proliferation of spiritual healing centers, the increase in deliverance and exorcism within Christian and Muslim communities, and recent therapeutic experiments in Western mental health care institutions, public interest about this issue has clearly increased in the past few decades (e.g.
This article examines how some Evangelical nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Côte d'Ivoire ... more This article examines how some Evangelical nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Côte d'Ivoire have focused their actions towards children and in doing so use strategies based on gifts and play. These organizations' activities encourage a holistic conception of 'development' that is based on both spiritual and material dimensions. In fact, these NGOs provide fascinating examples of the interaction between divergent development ideals, which are based on seemingly competing notions of the 'good life'. These organizations promote an ethics of evangelization, which rests on the underlying ideas that 'good Christians will make good citizens', by emphasizing activities geared to the tutoring of children through educational, charitable, sanitary, and playful interventions. In order to illustrate how the leaders of these local Evangelical NGOs carefully manipulate the border between play and evangelization, and how amusement and gift-giving are key to the interconnection of humanitarian and proselytizing activities, we focus the analysis on the activities of a local affiliate of the transnational NGO Samaritan's Purse. This case study also highlights how ethical ideals of evangelization defined by transnational organizations are appropriated by local actors and integrated within local discourses regarding the moralization of Ivorian society. The article is based on ethnographic field research conducted in the city of Abidjan in 2011, 2012, and 2016.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
Cet article examine les formes des transactions intimes dans lesquelles s’engagent de jeunes cita... more Cet article examine les formes des transactions intimes dans lesquelles s’engagent de jeunes citadines et citadins de Côte d’Ivoire pour atténuer la fragilité de leur situation socioéconomique. Alors que les dernières décennies ont été marquées par une détérioration des conditions d’insertion socioéconomique des jeunes, une montée du célibat féminin et un recul de l’âge à la première union, le champ des relations intimes et amoureuses constitue un point d’observation privilégié pour appréhender la manière dont s’opèrent les processus de changement sociogénérationnels. Basée sur des données ethnographiques tirées d’une étude de terrain conduite dans un quartier d’habitat précaire d’Abidjan, l’analyse porte sur les modalités par lesquelles les jeunes citadines non mariées se rapportent à l’idéologie prédominante de l’amour hétérosexuel ainsi qu’à l’ordre genré qui jalonnaient les relations intimes non maritales et extramaritales de leurs aînées. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Abstract:
Love, Deception and Eroticism in the Intimate Transactions Among Abidjanese Youth (Côte d’Ivoire)
This article examines the forms of intimate transactions that urban youth in Côte d’Ivoire engage in as a means to mitigate the fragility of their socioeconomic situation. While a deterioration in the socioeconomic integration of youth and a decrease in the age at first union have marked past decades, the field of intimate and romantic relationships represent a privileged vantage point to understand the ways in which the process of socio-generational changes operate. Based on data from an ethnographic field study conducted in an informal settlement of Abidjan, the analysis focuses on the manner in which unmarried female youth relate to the prevailing ideology of heterosexual love and emotional attachment that inform the non-marital and extra-marital relations of their elders.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
Articulant des tactiques de présentation de soi en ligne et un recours à la sorcellerie, le « bro... more Articulant des tactiques de présentation de soi en ligne et un recours à la sorcellerie, le « broutage » s’est largement popularisé au cours de la dernière décennie dans la métropole d’Abidjan comme un moyen privilégié par les jeunes pour pallier un contexte de sous-emploi endémique. À partir de la description des formes de sociabilité en ligne et hors ligne afférentes à ces procédés d’accumulation, cet article se veut une mise en exergue de la régénération des formes sociales et culturelles qui sous-tendent les réinventions lucratives, mais illicites de l’usage des technologies digitales de communication par les jeunes « brouteurs ». Sur la base de données ethnographiques tirées d’une enquête de terrain conduite en 2012 dans la métropole d’Abidjan, cette contribution développe l’idée qu’en définissant de nouveaux itinéraires permettant de transiter vers un statut social d’adulte en des temps d’austérité, les jeunes adeptes de ces procédés d’accumulation se posent comme des catalyseurs du changement socio-générationnel. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Abstract: Combining online self-presentation tactics and witchcraft, “grazing” has become widely popular during the last decade in the metropolis of Abidjan as a means favoured by young men to compensate for a social context characterized by endemic underemployment. Based on a description of online and offline social interactions related to accumulation processes, this paper highlights the regeneration of social and cultural forms that underlie lucrative but illicit new uses of digital communication technologies by the young “grazers”. Using ethnographic data collected on the field in Abidjan in 2012, this contribution argues that through defining new paths towards social adulthood in a time of economic austerity, the young followers of these accumulation processes act as a catalyst of generational change.
Les ONG confessionnelles qui orientent exclusivement leurs actions vers les enfants occupent une ... more Les ONG confessionnelles qui orientent exclusivement leurs actions vers les enfants occupent une place croissante dans l’espace public en Côte d’Ivoire depuis le conflit politique et militaire de 2002. Tout en ne s’inscrivant pas nécessairement dans la logique développementaliste des déclarations et conventions relatives aux droits des enfants, elles s’approprient souvent leur savoir-faire technique. Catholiques, évangéliques ou musulmanes, elles mêlent dans leurs projets diverses formes d’aide humanitaire et de prosélytisme. À partir d’enquêtes de terrain ethnographiques réalisées à Abidjan en 2011-2013, l’article analyse la place de l’éducation formelle dans les programmes des ONG catholiques et islamiques, tandis que les ONG évangéliques recourent à une conjonction subtile de cadeaux, de jeux et d’évangélisation pour atteindre leurs objectifs. /////////////////////////////////////////////// Abstract: Faith-based NGOs working exclusively with children occupy a growing place in public space in Côte-D’Ivoire since the 2002 military and political conflict. They do not always follow the developmental logic of the declarations and conventions on the rights of the child, but they often adopt their technical know-how. Catholic, Evangelical or Muslim, they mix in their projects various forms of humanitarian aid and proselytism. Results from surveys conducted in Abidjan in 2011-2013 show the importance of formal education for Catholic and Islamic NGOs, while Evangelical NGOs use a subtle combination of gifts, games and evangelism to achieve their goals.
This article questions the notion of spirituality through the prism of contemporary practices of ... more This article questions the notion of spirituality through the prism of contemporary practices of spiritual healing in urban Ivory Coast. More specifically, the article draws on stories of therapeutic trajectories undertaken by various categories of urban actors in the context of large-scale therapeutic spaces such as Christian prayer camps and Ruqyah clinics. The analysis focuses on the ways in which these institutions, which are popular with youth and women, are helping to define new ways of looking at spirituality, healing, spiritual afflictions and religiosity. Keywords: Spiritual healing. Spirituality. Public health. Witchcraft. Therapeutic trajectories.
Cet article interroge la notion de spiritualité à travers le prisme des pratiques contemporaines de guérison des maladies spirituelles en Côte d’Ivoire urbaine. Plus spécifiquement, l’article se penche sur les récits de démarches thérapeutiques entreprises par diverses catégories d’acteurs en Côte d’Ivoire urbaine dans des espaces thérapeutiques de grande envergure que sont les camps de prière chrétiens et les cliniques de Roqya. L’analyse met l’accent sur les façons dont ces institutions contribuent à redéfinir de nouvelles façons d’envisager la spiritualité et la guérison des afflictions spirituelles. Mots-clés : Guérison spirituelle, spiritualité, santé publique, sorcellerie, itinéraires thérapeutiques.
The workshop "Occult Afflictions and Public Health: Views from Africa and the African Diaspora", ... more The workshop "Occult Afflictions and Public Health: Views from Africa and the African Diaspora", aims to stimulate an interdisciplinary discussion on the intersection between public health and spiritual healing and illness. It will offer new perspectives on the realities of public health within African countries and among the African diasporas by illuminating the omnipresent yet overlooked issue of occult afflictions-conditions and illnesses that are deemed to be caused by invisible forces such as ancestors, demons, jinns, spirits, witches, and other intangible entities. Occult afflictions have always constituted vital health and social concerns for people living in Africa and in other parts of the world. As evidenced by the continuing massive presence of a wide variety of spiritual healers in urban and rural African milieus, the proliferation of spiritual healing centers, the increase in deliverance and exorcism within Christian and Muslim communities, and recent therapeutic experiments in Western mental health care institutions, public interest about this issue has clearly increased in the past few decades (e.g.
This article examines how some Evangelical nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Côte d'Ivoire ... more This article examines how some Evangelical nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Côte d'Ivoire have focused their actions towards children and in doing so use strategies based on gifts and play. These organizations' activities encourage a holistic conception of 'development' that is based on both spiritual and material dimensions. In fact, these NGOs provide fascinating examples of the interaction between divergent development ideals, which are based on seemingly competing notions of the 'good life'. These organizations promote an ethics of evangelization, which rests on the underlying ideas that 'good Christians will make good citizens', by emphasizing activities geared to the tutoring of children through educational, charitable, sanitary, and playful interventions. In order to illustrate how the leaders of these local Evangelical NGOs carefully manipulate the border between play and evangelization, and how amusement and gift-giving are key to the interconnection of humanitarian and proselytizing activities, we focus the analysis on the activities of a local affiliate of the transnational NGO Samaritan's Purse. This case study also highlights how ethical ideals of evangelization defined by transnational organizations are appropriated by local actors and integrated within local discourses regarding the moralization of Ivorian society. The article is based on ethnographic field research conducted in the city of Abidjan in 2011, 2012, and 2016.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
Cet article examine les formes des transactions intimes dans lesquelles s’engagent de jeunes cita... more Cet article examine les formes des transactions intimes dans lesquelles s’engagent de jeunes citadines et citadins de Côte d’Ivoire pour atténuer la fragilité de leur situation socioéconomique. Alors que les dernières décennies ont été marquées par une détérioration des conditions d’insertion socioéconomique des jeunes, une montée du célibat féminin et un recul de l’âge à la première union, le champ des relations intimes et amoureuses constitue un point d’observation privilégié pour appréhender la manière dont s’opèrent les processus de changement sociogénérationnels. Basée sur des données ethnographiques tirées d’une étude de terrain conduite dans un quartier d’habitat précaire d’Abidjan, l’analyse porte sur les modalités par lesquelles les jeunes citadines non mariées se rapportent à l’idéologie prédominante de l’amour hétérosexuel ainsi qu’à l’ordre genré qui jalonnaient les relations intimes non maritales et extramaritales de leurs aînées. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Abstract:
Love, Deception and Eroticism in the Intimate Transactions Among Abidjanese Youth (Côte d’Ivoire)
This article examines the forms of intimate transactions that urban youth in Côte d’Ivoire engage in as a means to mitigate the fragility of their socioeconomic situation. While a deterioration in the socioeconomic integration of youth and a decrease in the age at first union have marked past decades, the field of intimate and romantic relationships represent a privileged vantage point to understand the ways in which the process of socio-generational changes operate. Based on data from an ethnographic field study conducted in an informal settlement of Abidjan, the analysis focuses on the manner in which unmarried female youth relate to the prevailing ideology of heterosexual love and emotional attachment that inform the non-marital and extra-marital relations of their elders.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
Articulant des tactiques de présentation de soi en ligne et un recours à la sorcellerie, le « bro... more Articulant des tactiques de présentation de soi en ligne et un recours à la sorcellerie, le « broutage » s’est largement popularisé au cours de la dernière décennie dans la métropole d’Abidjan comme un moyen privilégié par les jeunes pour pallier un contexte de sous-emploi endémique. À partir de la description des formes de sociabilité en ligne et hors ligne afférentes à ces procédés d’accumulation, cet article se veut une mise en exergue de la régénération des formes sociales et culturelles qui sous-tendent les réinventions lucratives, mais illicites de l’usage des technologies digitales de communication par les jeunes « brouteurs ». Sur la base de données ethnographiques tirées d’une enquête de terrain conduite en 2012 dans la métropole d’Abidjan, cette contribution développe l’idée qu’en définissant de nouveaux itinéraires permettant de transiter vers un statut social d’adulte en des temps d’austérité, les jeunes adeptes de ces procédés d’accumulation se posent comme des catalyseurs du changement socio-générationnel. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Abstract: Combining online self-presentation tactics and witchcraft, “grazing” has become widely popular during the last decade in the metropolis of Abidjan as a means favoured by young men to compensate for a social context characterized by endemic underemployment. Based on a description of online and offline social interactions related to accumulation processes, this paper highlights the regeneration of social and cultural forms that underlie lucrative but illicit new uses of digital communication technologies by the young “grazers”. Using ethnographic data collected on the field in Abidjan in 2012, this contribution argues that through defining new paths towards social adulthood in a time of economic austerity, the young followers of these accumulation processes act as a catalyst of generational change.
Les ONG confessionnelles qui orientent exclusivement leurs actions vers les enfants occupent une ... more Les ONG confessionnelles qui orientent exclusivement leurs actions vers les enfants occupent une place croissante dans l’espace public en Côte d’Ivoire depuis le conflit politique et militaire de 2002. Tout en ne s’inscrivant pas nécessairement dans la logique développementaliste des déclarations et conventions relatives aux droits des enfants, elles s’approprient souvent leur savoir-faire technique. Catholiques, évangéliques ou musulmanes, elles mêlent dans leurs projets diverses formes d’aide humanitaire et de prosélytisme. À partir d’enquêtes de terrain ethnographiques réalisées à Abidjan en 2011-2013, l’article analyse la place de l’éducation formelle dans les programmes des ONG catholiques et islamiques, tandis que les ONG évangéliques recourent à une conjonction subtile de cadeaux, de jeux et d’évangélisation pour atteindre leurs objectifs. /////////////////////////////////////////////// Abstract: Faith-based NGOs working exclusively with children occupy a growing place in public space in Côte-D’Ivoire since the 2002 military and political conflict. They do not always follow the developmental logic of the declarations and conventions on the rights of the child, but they often adopt their technical know-how. Catholic, Evangelical or Muslim, they mix in their projects various forms of humanitarian aid and proselytism. Results from surveys conducted in Abidjan in 2011-2013 show the importance of formal education for Catholic and Islamic NGOs, while Evangelical NGOs use a subtle combination of gifts, games and evangelism to achieve their goals.
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Papers by Boris Koenig
Cet article interroge la notion de spiritualité à travers le prisme des pratiques contemporaines de guérison des maladies spirituelles en Côte d’Ivoire urbaine. Plus spécifiquement, l’article se penche sur les récits de démarches thérapeutiques entreprises par diverses catégories d’acteurs en Côte d’Ivoire urbaine dans des espaces thérapeutiques de grande envergure que sont les camps de prière chrétiens et les cliniques de Roqya. L’analyse met l’accent sur les façons dont ces institutions contribuent à redéfinir de nouvelles façons d’envisager la spiritualité et la guérison des afflictions spirituelles.
Mots-clés : Guérison spirituelle, spiritualité, santé publique, sorcellerie, itinéraires thérapeutiques.
Abstract:
Love, Deception and Eroticism in the Intimate Transactions Among Abidjanese Youth (Côte d’Ivoire)
This article examines the forms of intimate transactions that urban youth in Côte d’Ivoire engage in as a means to mitigate the fragility of their socioeconomic situation. While a deterioration in the socioeconomic integration of youth and a decrease in the age at first union have marked past decades, the field of intimate and romantic relationships represent a privileged vantage point to understand the ways in which the process of socio-generational changes operate. Based on data from an ethnographic field study conducted in an informal settlement of Abidjan, the analysis focuses on the manner in which unmarried female youth relate to the prevailing ideology of heterosexual love and emotional attachment that inform the non-marital and extra-marital relations of their elders.
Abstract: Combining online self-presentation tactics and witchcraft, “grazing” has become widely popular during the last decade in the metropolis of Abidjan as a means favoured by young men to compensate for a social context characterized by endemic underemployment. Based on a description of online and offline social interactions related to accumulation processes, this paper highlights the regeneration of social and cultural forms that underlie lucrative but illicit new uses of digital communication technologies by the young “grazers”. Using ethnographic data collected on the field in Abidjan in 2012, this contribution argues that through defining new paths towards social adulthood in a time of economic austerity, the young followers of these accumulation processes act as a catalyst of generational change.
Cet article interroge la notion de spiritualité à travers le prisme des pratiques contemporaines de guérison des maladies spirituelles en Côte d’Ivoire urbaine. Plus spécifiquement, l’article se penche sur les récits de démarches thérapeutiques entreprises par diverses catégories d’acteurs en Côte d’Ivoire urbaine dans des espaces thérapeutiques de grande envergure que sont les camps de prière chrétiens et les cliniques de Roqya. L’analyse met l’accent sur les façons dont ces institutions contribuent à redéfinir de nouvelles façons d’envisager la spiritualité et la guérison des afflictions spirituelles.
Mots-clés : Guérison spirituelle, spiritualité, santé publique, sorcellerie, itinéraires thérapeutiques.
Abstract:
Love, Deception and Eroticism in the Intimate Transactions Among Abidjanese Youth (Côte d’Ivoire)
This article examines the forms of intimate transactions that urban youth in Côte d’Ivoire engage in as a means to mitigate the fragility of their socioeconomic situation. While a deterioration in the socioeconomic integration of youth and a decrease in the age at first union have marked past decades, the field of intimate and romantic relationships represent a privileged vantage point to understand the ways in which the process of socio-generational changes operate. Based on data from an ethnographic field study conducted in an informal settlement of Abidjan, the analysis focuses on the manner in which unmarried female youth relate to the prevailing ideology of heterosexual love and emotional attachment that inform the non-marital and extra-marital relations of their elders.
Abstract: Combining online self-presentation tactics and witchcraft, “grazing” has become widely popular during the last decade in the metropolis of Abidjan as a means favoured by young men to compensate for a social context characterized by endemic underemployment. Based on a description of online and offline social interactions related to accumulation processes, this paper highlights the regeneration of social and cultural forms that underlie lucrative but illicit new uses of digital communication technologies by the young “grazers”. Using ethnographic data collected on the field in Abidjan in 2012, this contribution argues that through defining new paths towards social adulthood in a time of economic austerity, the young followers of these accumulation processes act as a catalyst of generational change.