Enchanted Calvinism ― Labor Migration, Afflicting Spirits, and Christian Therapy in the Presbyterian Church of Ghana

Anthropologist Mohr refutes German sociologist Max Weber's (1864-1920) claim that capitalism would bring a diminution in religious enchantment (believing in spirits, demons, and sorcerers) to the population using the ethnographic and historical data he collected in the US and Ghana. Weber postulated that the Calvinist emphasis on hard work promoted business enterprise, and the development of science enabled modern capitalism, and both rational developments would eradicate enchantment. Calvinism came to Ghana by way of Protestantism, German Pietism, and the Basel Mission in 1828. While before 1885, Basel (Switzerland) missionaries in Ghana and Ghanaian Christians shared a spiritual interpretation of the world, with the advent of biomedicine, the missionaries began to shun traditional African, spirit-based healing practices, which were then practiced sub rosa. Disruptions in the early twentieth century were frequently seen as due to witchcraft, and, thus, traditional healing persisted. By the early 1960s, the Church had formally instituted traditional healing practices in the church. In North America, Ghanaian migrants experienced spiritual afflictions frequently attributed to witchcraft. By the 1990s, the Protestant Church of Ghana had become enchanted, all in the context of significant political, economic, and medical decline. Mohr argues that the more these Calvinists became dependent on capitalist modes of production, the more enchanted their lives, and subsequently their church became. In conclusion he explains why biomedicine has not been a disenchanting force in Ghana, and how politics, or the state specifically affects the relationship between capitalism and enchantment. There are six chapters divided into Ghana and North America. The book has a list of illustrations, appendix, and bibliography. Annotation c2014 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)