PRESERVING BODIES, SAVING SOULS: RELIGIOUS INCONGRUITY IN A NORTHERN MALAGASY MINING TOWN

Abstract

AbstractThis article discusses the manifestation of incongruent religious ideals in a northern Malagasy sapphire mining community. It focuses particularly on how members of an Evangelical Christian congregation and long-time resident animists of the place interpret one another's practices, and on how these interpretations reflect a fundamental disparity in how they understand the material world that they share. It argues that the conflict that has emerged between them can only be understood in light of this significant disparity.