Abstract
In the mid-1950s in Machakos, close to one thousand Kamba witches and witchdoctors responded to state officials’ requests that they surrender their paraphernalia for public burning and publicly renounce witchcraft – a pair of practices that colonial authorities imagined would cleanse these practitioners of prior bad acts. In return, witches and witchdoctors could expect amnesty from the government and a clean slate from their neighbors. This campaign, referred to as the Machakos witch-cleansings, comprised the final set of “critical events” through which colonial authorities linked a breakdown in law and order to Kamba witchcraft beliefs and practices. While preceding colonial anti-witchcraft policies had sought to discipline witchcraft by denying its existence, or at least its efficacy, the Machakos witch-cleansings, in contrast, aimed instead to discipline witchcraft beliefs and practices by acknowledging and mobilizing their power.
Published Version
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