Taming Misfortunes: Witchcraft, Theodicy, Insurance, and the Politics of Disaster

View at Publisher

Ask AI

Bookmark

Share

Key Points

This research aims to analyze how society interprets and manages unfortunate events like disease, accidents, and disasters.
Comparative analysis of witchcraft, theodicy, and insurance as frameworks for understanding misfortunes.
Examination of how responsibility and concepts of justice are assigned through each framework.
Case study of the Sewol ferry disaster to illustrate the interaction of these frameworks.
Witchcraft attributes responsibility for misfortunes to specific individuals, promoting retributive justice.
Theodicy reinterprets suffering and disasters as opportunities for collective reflection and societal advancement.
Insurance commodifies misfortunes as probabilistic risks, distancing responsibility and institutionalizing contractual justice.

This analysis compares diverse frameworks for managing misfortunes in society, indicating their contemporary overlaps and conflicts.

No abstract yet. The journal hasn't published one we can show.

No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.

Seung Cheol Lee (2026) studied this question.

View at Publisher

Ask AI

Bookmark

Share