Belief and practices associated with “magic” conjure up, for some people, images of backward tribal peoples or kooky contemporary eccentrics. For anthropologists, magic is neither. It is a feature of almost all societies, it flourishes among the educated and wealthy, and rather than dying out, it seems to be on the rise. In this episode, I distinguish white from black magic; critique an analysis of magic as a placebo effect; magic and confidence; and look at the modern witchcraft movement...

Anthropology is the study of human culture and society. It asks what it is to be human? Socio-Cultural Anthropology, the approach of this lecture series, studies different contemporary societies to answer this question. Anthropologists have a ‘kit’ full of conceptual tools they bring to this study. Let’s find out what some of these tools are… Copyright 2012 Nicholas Herriman / La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Please contact for permissions.