‘Delivered from the powers of darkness’: confessions of satanic riches in Christian Ghana

Abstract

In Ghana, as well as in other parts of Africa, pentecostal Churches have recently become extremely popular. Within these Churches reference is made frequently to the devil, who is associated with the non-Christian gods and ghosts as well as Western luxury goods. Present Ghanaian popular culture reveals a striking obsession with images of the devil and of evil. By analysing stories told and published in Ghanaian ‘born again’ circles about money received through a contract with the devil or one of his agents, the author attempts to understand (1) what evil is denounced in these movements by means of the devil, and (2) how, with the help of the notion of the devil, ‘born again’ Christians think about poverty and wealth. It is argued that collective fantasies around the devil have to be understood against the background of difficult socio-economic conditions. These stories entail both a critique of the capitalist economy in the name of the pre-capitalist ideal of mutual family assistance (although a much more limited critique than Taussig suggested in his The Devil and Commodity Fetishism) and an opportunity to fantasise about things people cannot afford but nevertheless desire.