The book is based on rich qualitative fieldwork. . . .Chaudhuri’s book is an engaging analysis of contemporary forms of witchcraft accusations and witch hunts. Not only does it go through interesting bodies of literatures and rich empirical data, it also offers an important discussion on the work of local NGOs campaigning against witch hunts. . . .Chaudhuri’s book will be of interest to a wide range of scholars who do research on witch hunts and witchcraft accusations not only in India, but globally. It is also an interesting book for any sociologist concerned with labor relations and labor conflicts in postcolonial contexts.

American Journal of Sociology

Chaudhury has written a very important book on the plight, simultaneously, of the millions of tea plantation workers in India and of 'indigenous' groups. . . .The book is a significant contribution to the scholarship on popular cultural and religious performances in South Asia. Chaudhuri’s book, and such ethnographic understandings in general, are a must-read for state administrators whose knowledge and interpretations continue to bear significantly and directly on the subjects’ lives and circumstances. It will be a valuable resource for scholars studying the tribulations of 'indigenous' workers in postcolonial nation-state setups; for students of gendered sufferings in precarious living conditions; and, of course, for comparative understanding of tea plantation workers and modern witchcraft practices. It should be standard reading for themes of gender, indigeneity, development, and rituals in graduate courses on contemporary South Asia. Additionally, Chaudhuri provides a welcome peek into the paradoxes and problems facing NGOs intervening in such visceral social conflicts, which will benefit both graduate and undergraduate students of rural and community development.

Gender & Society

Soma Chaudhuri offers a wealth of fresh insights in response to this age-old question through an in-depth study of witch-hunts among migrant adivasi tea plantation laborers in the Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal. The book paints an empirically rich, analytically nuanced, and deeply unsettling portrait of the horrifying social pathologies that may result from the confluence of exploitation, marginalization, and a lack of opportunities for mobilization. It also highlights the challenges against violence perpetrated by oppressed populations. . . .Among the book's most valuable contributions is its juxtaposition of the ways in which different forms of mobilization play multiple and often contradictory roles in the constituting power relationships. . . .Interspersed with heartrendering stories, vivid descriptions, and photographs, Chaudhari's book transports her readers to the study's field site at a level that few sociologists have managed. The book contributes to the existing debates and will no doubt spark further ones on determinants of collective behavior, strategies of framing, and the material roots of ritualized violence.

Mobilization