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What role might the Devil have in health and illness? The Devil is Disorder explores constructions of the body, health, illness and wider misfortune in a Trinidadian village where evangelical Christianity is growing in popularity. Based on long-term ethnography and locating the village in historical and global context, the book takes a nuanced cosmological approach to situate evangelical Christian understandings as shaping and being shaped by their context and, in the process, shaping individuals themselves. As people move from local to global subjects, health here stretches beyond being a matter of individual bodies and is connected to worldwide flows and networks, spirit entities, and expansive moral orders.
“Based on a rich and refined ethnography, this book shows the powerful connections existing in contemporary societies between health, illness, and religion…The book shows us exactly how necessary and fruitful is to focus on the relations between heath and illness, on the one hand, and the interpretations of evil, on both individual and collective levels, on the other.” • Religion and Society
“[A] Fascinating and detailed account of local medicine, morality and metaphysics in Trinidad. Excellent ethnographic vignettes and vigorous conclusions; a major contribution to current debates on religion and modernity.” • Roland Littlewood, University College London
“The Devil is Disorder covers an area often overlooked in medical anthropology – the link to religious beliefs and practices. The author shows impressively the relevance of taking religion into account when studying medicine. Her study also highlights the dynamic nature of cultures and the adaptability of traditions.” • Bettina Schmidt, University of Wales Trinity Saint David
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
PART I: VILLAGE, SPIRITS, AND MORAL ORDER
Chapter 1. Trinidad village
Chapter 2. The material and other worlds
Chapter 3. Cosmological crafting and story-telling
PART II: DISORDER AND THE DEVIL
Chapter 4. The body and health
Chapter 5. The Devil in the body
Chapter 6. Healing the body
Chapter 7. The body in the village and in the State
Chapter 8. The Devil is disorder
Conclusion: Job, justice and moral order
Appendix: Churches in the Village
References
Index