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Drawing on both primary and secondary data, this paper sets out to demonstrate that spirit mediums have a role to play in democratisation processes based on a case study from Ngaone, Chipinge - South East Zimbabwe. The aim of this account is to examine the relationship between ecstatic religion and politics in Zimbabwe in the context of democratisation as well as how the relationship between war veterans and traditional leadership changed over time. Using insights from political anthropology, this author argues that ecstatic religion play a significant role in democratic struggles. Spirit mediums significantly influenced political processes both during the colonial and post-colonial epochs in Zimbabwe as both instruments and actors. It was the medium of Makopa who prevented war veterans from setting up torture bases in Ngaone in Mutema Chieftaincy, a development that stopped political violence against opposition supporters in and around Chipinge district. This study concludes that the medium of Makopa positively contributed towards democracy and nation building using the idiom of spirit possession.
Key words: Traditional religion, spirit medium, possession, democracy, hegemony
.... spirits as real, social actors provide[d] mimetic insight into contemporary political changes...Democracy did not enable the spirits; the spirits enabled democracy! (Bubandt 2009, p.308-309)
Many political theorists agree on the notion that the process of democratisation across the world will remain an unfinished project (see Dunn 1993). In a broad sense and for the purposes of this paper, democratisation is defined as the progressive and effective inclusion of various groups (e.g. ethnic and religious minorities, gays, lesbians, people of colour, women etc) in political life (Dryzek 1996, p. 475). The ambivalent relationship between religion and politics is examined in this account with a view to better understand how traditional religious figures can support democratisation efforts. I argue here that, spirit mediums can add both spiritual and sacred dimensions to the democratisation process and one of the goals of this piece is to contribute to that understanding. For Philpott
Support for democratization can take the form of several kinds of civic, nonviolent modes of resistance, including explicit statements and actions of protest against authoritarian regimes, conduct of religious ceremonies with an oppositional intent, cooperation with co-religionists across borders in defying the regime, and similar collaboration with parties, unions, and...