Social-Anthropological Approach

Historians:

- Ron Hutton

- McFarlane (anthropologist)

- Gluckman (^^^)

- Marwick (^^^)

- Robin Briggs (and 'from below')

- Peter Geschiere

Advantages:

- sense of the whole must contribute to our understanding of parts

- witchcraft beliefs rational to their own contexts

- functional beliefs (helped make sense of the world around them)

- understanable and meaningful in their own contexts

- can enhance other interpretations by using comparisons

- shared characteristics of a witch (i.e. someone who reverses the norms is a common feature of witchcraft beliefs…