State Police resolve witchcraft cases in Mozambique

The new article ‘State Policing and Invisible Forces in Mozambique’ grabbles with the question of why state police officers in the rural areas increasingly deal with ‘traditional’ matters like witchcraft and evil spirit possessions. This is paradoxical since the police are supposed to only deal with the crimes covered by official law. Based on extensive fieldwork among police in a former war zone, the article argues that the police engage with invisible forces in order to gain popular legitimacy and manifest state power. This is necessary in a context where people not only believe that crimes and conflicts are related to evil spirits, but also where invisible forces constitute an alternative articulation of sovereign power that challenges state sovereignty. The article is published in the journal AFRICA by DIIS Senior Researcher Helene Maria Kyed.