Magic and Witchcraft: History, Interdisciplinarity, Global Perspectives

Beliefs in witchcraft, the power of humans to intervene in the flow of life events and to harm others by supernatural means, is widely distributed both geographically and chronologically. How in European history the accusations were developed and put together with the elaboration of a sufficiently coherent framework of reference can be the focus of historical attention. This is indeed part of a wider process of formation of scapegoat images through time and on different social targets, from the heretics to the lepers, and from the Jews to ultimately witches. All this, along with the late medieval construction of the concept of the diabolic witches’ Sabbath, constitute a historical issue, the discussion and the understanding of which demand the involvement of a multidisciplinary way of approaching historical inquiry as well as an open-minded sight. 

This course aims to lay out the rise and downturn of witch beliefs in medieval and early modern Europe, tracing the multifaceted roots leading to their construction, from the Classical Greek and Roman literary traditions to medieval lore and popular beliefs, up to the outburst of the “witch-craze” in early modern Europe. In this iteration of the course, we will dedicate more attention to witchcraft prosecutions beyond the paradigmatic West-European persecution waves: Central and Eastern Europe and modern witch-hunts in the global South. We will dedicate a few sessions on contemporary witch-hunts in the Global South and will pay particular attention to contemporary witch persecutions in Africa. Discussing magic and witchcraft in a global context will bring us to issues that can help us understand modern witch-hunting waves, and the dangerous social psychological mechanisms leading to scapegoat persecutions. At the same time, we will present the persistence, the cultural heritage of beliefs in magic, fashionable resurgences of neo-paganism, shamanism, alternative medicine, and new age sectarianism.