Reconstructing<i>Mchape</i>'95: AIDS, Billy Chisupe, and the Politics of Persuasion

Doran, Marissa C. M.

doi:10.1080/17531050701625573

Cited by 18 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Regardless of origin, these cures inevitably gain political capital as more and more people use them, thereby transforming into “resources with political value” ( Whyte et al, 2002 , p. 5). For instance, the AIDS cure of Billy Goodson Chisupe—a farmer from a Malawian outpost—reached almost a million people in 1995 precisely because it was endorsed by religious leaders, health institutions, and state officials ( Doran, 2007 ). The Kemron drug of the Kenya Medical Research Institute was backed by the country's president at the time ( Hyden and Lanegran, 1993 ).…”

Section: The ‘Political Efficacy’ Of Miracle Curesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pharmaceutical messianism and the COVID-19 pandemic

Lasco

2022

Social Science & Medicine

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As part of their populist performances during disease outbreaks, public officials and politicians tend to offer ‘miracle cures’ or ‘wonder drugs’ that can supposedly treat or prevent the disease in question. This article analyzes contemporary instances of what we call ‘pharmaceutical messianism’ and proposes four characteristics for this phenomenon, namely, that it: (1) emerges during times of extraordinary health crisis; (2) builds on pre-existing knowledge, practices, and sentiments; (3) borrows from medical, often heterodox, authority; and (4) involves accessible, affordable, and/or familiar substances. Demonstrating the analytic value of our framework, we present three case studies, constructed using academic and journalistic sources, during the COVID-19 pandemic: hydroxychloroquine in France, ivermectin in the Philippines, and Covid-Organics in Madagascar. We conclude by identifying some implications of our findings on public health and avenues for future research.

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Section: The ‘Political Efficacy’ Of Miracle Curesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pharmaceutical messianism and the COVID-19 pandemic

Lasco

2022

Social Science & Medicine

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“…In the recent past (the 1930s and 1940s), Malawi and other parts of East, Central, and Southern Africa, mchape (literally translated "cleanse him" or "cleansing concoction") became famous for the cleansing of the community not only of illness but also of witches (Bonhomme 2013;Ranger 1968Ranger , 1972. Whole villages were asked to drink the mchape concoction (Schoffeleers 1999;De Gabriele 1998;Chakanza 1995;Doran 2007).…”

Section: Traditional Religion Health and Wholenessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Zimitsani Moto: Understanding the Malawi COVID-19 Response

Tengatenga

Duley²,

Tengatenga

2021

Laws

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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has unsettled societies and economies of people and countries all over the world. Malawi is no exception. As such, the COVID-19 pandemic is more than just a health crisis. Countries have responded by instituting lockdowns and other restrictive measures among the populace. These have, in turn, elicited negative responses and legal challenges; most of which are rights-based. The main challenge has been that of the restriction of individual and religious freedoms. It is, thus, no surprise that reactions against government decrees restricting religious gatherings in the wake of the pandemic have been challenged in the courts. We will explore the Malawian traditional religious concept of healing and wholeness, give a chronological outline of government decrees and the responses to the pandemic, and conclude with an analysis using some reflections on Ferdinand Tönnies concepts of Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft and recollection of traditional religion and critique of the new evangelicalism leading to an understanding of the Malawian response to the pandemic.

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“…Mwasapila's miracle cure is but one of thousands of similar phenomena in recent decades in Africa, notable only for the scale of his operations and the publicity he has received. In the mid-1990s, for example, a Malawian villager treated more than a million people with his 'cure' for AIDS (Probst 1999, Schoffeleers 1999, Doran 2007. Across the continent, hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of healers are brewing their decoctions daily, usually with recipes inspired by communication with spiritual beings of one kind or another.…”

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confidence: 99%

AIDS, religious enthusiasm and spiritual insecurity in Africa

Ashforth

2011

Global Public Health

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The connection between the AIDS epidemic and the efflorescence of religious 'enthusiasm' (construed in both classical and contemporary senses) in Africa in recent decades is best understood, this paper argues, by reference to a concept of 'spiritual insecurity'. The article offers a general description of the condition of spiritual insecurity and argues that it is best studied within a relational realist paradigm. The article presents a critique of the concept of 'belief' as commonly used in the social science of religion, arguing instead for an opening of the study of social relations to include the universe of relations within which people experience the world, including their relations with entities such as spiritual beings that might otherwise be considered virtual.

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ReconstructingMchape'95: AIDS, Billy Chisupe, and the Politics of Persuasion

Cited by 18 publications

References 6 publications

Pharmaceutical messianism and the COVID-19 pandemic

Pharmaceutical messianism and the COVID-19 pandemic

Zimitsani Moto: Understanding the Malawi COVID-19 Response

AIDS, religious enthusiasm and spiritual insecurity in Africa

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