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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Privatizing the Millennium. New Protestant Ethics and the Spirits of Capitalism in Africa, and Elsewhere
Authors:Comaroff, JeanISNI
Comaroff, JohnISNI
Year:2000
Periodical:Afrika Spectrum
Volume:35
Issue:3
Pages:293-312
Language:English
Geographic term:Africa
Subjects:ethics
Protestant churches
global economy
Religion and Witchcraft
Development and Technology
Economics and Trade
Abstract:Following Max Weber, this paper examines the new religious spirit that seems to accompany the rise of global capitalism. The paradox of simultaneous homogenization and differentiation, the increase in both wealth and poverty, and the rise of new forms of chauvinism and exclusion amidst a discourse of laissez-faire are some widely discussed features of this 'new world order'. Less often noted is the exuberant spread, at a time of hyper-rationalization, of prosperity gospels and fee-for-service religions, of occult practices and so-called pyramid schemes; i.e. of the enchantments of a distinctly neoliberal economy. This paper explores the causes of these new phenomena and their characteristics. Focusing on examples from postcolonial Africa, it examines the distinctive ways in which neo-Protestant movements seek to reanimate an age-old messianic spirit with the specific symbols and values of neoliberal enterprise. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English, French and German.
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