ABSTRACT
The types of witch-finding, in which specific employees, departments and faculties are condemned, tend to feature more prominently in the rituals of corporate academia, intensifying managerial control and maintaining a climate of fear. Various studies of witchcraft in Africa draw attention to the links between witchcraft and kinship. Geschiere describes how notions of kinship have expanded in many contemporary African societies, particularly on account of factors such as urbanisation, extending to incorporate those with whom someone is connected by other than flesh and blood ties. The metaphorical parallels between perceptions of witchcraft and contemporary corporatised academia extend beyond kinship. Other aspects of the market-oriented, managerially controlled academic environment have metaphorical parallels with the dark domain of the witch. The financial incentives intensify the climate of competitiveness in academia, bringing various damaging tendencies associated with witchcraft, such as greed, covetousness and selfishness to the fore. In many countries, South Africa included, the academic condition may seem to be one of deprivation.
