As political unrest in India intensified, so did the actions of the people. Crime increased dramatically as an act of rebellion towards the British governing system. The colonizers struggled to comprehend the uprising, tending to, “Label its spread as a form of ‘contagion,’ whereas from the peasants’ own viewpoint, it was seen as a collective enterprise, energized by the emulation and solidarity,” (Stewart and Strathern Loc. 1212). In fact, the Indian historian Ramachandra Guha offers that the foreign power developed false beliefs, tending to, “Delude themselves into thinking that the spread of such actions was the result of secret conspiracies, missing the development of popular movements,” (Stewart and Strathern loc. 1192). To add to
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Although it seems the British quickly resolved the issue, there was a basis set forth of disrespect that would no longer be tolerated. The assertion of conspiracy on both the parts of Indians and the British is another example of how deep the distrust between the two divisions was. In the case of colonial India, there was a deep-rooted mutual fear that bred conspiracy suspicion spread quickly through rumor and gossip. Stewart and Strathern connect this political disintegration with mysticism, noting, “The basic rumor behind the uprising in 1857 further centered on an idea of pollution, which here exactly corresponds to an imputation of sorcery, that is, that poisonous substances had been introduced into the supplies of food and water threatening life itself,” (Stewart and Strathern loc. 1350). Witchcraft, rumors, gossip, and political power all have such fundamental functions in survival. Despite being incorporeal forces, they very much hold real world influence and consequences. Rumors, such as the case of the Indian revolt are, “Able to generate strong reactions and to mobilize people swiftly. It thus functioned in the same way as rumors do in generating witch-hunts,” (Stewart and Strathern …show more content…
In the 1980’s, enormous economic and communal strife was created from trust lands that displaced farmers from white owned properties to much smaller lots, and the phasing out of chiefly rule. Instead, cross-community youth groups took control. The social control of the older generation and parents weakened as association with power, and in particular witch hunting, shifted to the young. After the rise of suspicion and use of diviners, “Youths then burnt down the houses of the accused or drove them out. Because government officials would not prosecute witches, the local people thought they in fact protected them, and this increased the people’s collective fears,” (Stewart and Strathern loc. 792). Numerous “convicted witches” were killed by, “Stoning, burning, or ‘necklacing’ (killing with a tire set on fire around the neck), sometimes by youth groups fighting against political opponents and including ‘collaborators’ along with ‘witches’ as their targets,” (Stewart and Strathern loc. 799). Additionally, these youth groups, “Tended to target people of their parental generation, who in a sense became scapegoats on whom to blame for numerous deaths and misfortunes was loaded,” (Stewart and Strathern loc. 822). South Africa was in a time of economic turmoil, and here were large group of educated juveniles looking to blame those in power, to then grasp it
Although it seems the British quickly resolved the issue, there was a basis set forth of disrespect that would no longer be tolerated. The assertion of conspiracy on both the parts of Indians and the British is another example of how deep the distrust between the two divisions was. In the case of colonial India, there was a deep-rooted mutual fear that bred conspiracy suspicion spread quickly through rumor and gossip. Stewart and Strathern connect this political disintegration with mysticism, noting, “The basic rumor behind the uprising in 1857 further centered on an idea of pollution, which here exactly corresponds to an imputation of sorcery, that is, that poisonous substances had been introduced into the supplies of food and water threatening life itself,” (Stewart and Strathern loc. 1350). Witchcraft, rumors, gossip, and political power all have such fundamental functions in survival. Despite being incorporeal forces, they very much hold real world influence and consequences. Rumors, such as the case of the Indian revolt are, “Able to generate strong reactions and to mobilize people swiftly. It thus functioned in the same way as rumors do in generating witch-hunts,” (Stewart and Strathern …show more content…
In the 1980’s, enormous economic and communal strife was created from trust lands that displaced farmers from white owned properties to much smaller lots, and the phasing out of chiefly rule. Instead, cross-community youth groups took control. The social control of the older generation and parents weakened as association with power, and in particular witch hunting, shifted to the young. After the rise of suspicion and use of diviners, “Youths then burnt down the houses of the accused or drove them out. Because government officials would not prosecute witches, the local people thought they in fact protected them, and this increased the people’s collective fears,” (Stewart and Strathern loc. 792). Numerous “convicted witches” were killed by, “Stoning, burning, or ‘necklacing’ (killing with a tire set on fire around the neck), sometimes by youth groups fighting against political opponents and including ‘collaborators’ along with ‘witches’ as their targets,” (Stewart and Strathern loc. 799). Additionally, these youth groups, “Tended to target people of their parental generation, who in a sense became scapegoats on whom to blame for numerous deaths and misfortunes was loaded,” (Stewart and Strathern loc. 822). South Africa was in a time of economic turmoil, and here were large group of educated juveniles looking to blame those in power, to then grasp it