Demonic Possession or Industrial Action? Holy Water, Wellbeing and The Spirit of Nurture Among Garment Factory Workers in Ethiopia.

Abstract (English)

This paper evidences how Ethiopian garment factory workers experience spirit possession at work. Based on original narrative interview data collected during the first months of 2024, we explore aspects of health, safety and wellness in the context of capitalist labour regimes, poor access to allopathic medical care, Orthodox Christian beliefs in demonic possession, and the role of holy water in healing. Specifically, we show that the long hours and low wages in garment work in a frontier location lead to women’s physical and mental suffering, yet provision of allopathic care is unsatisfactory. Against this backdrop, women resort to using holy water to cure health problems either by oral consumption or full body immersion with the assistance of a spiritual leader. General poor health, coupled with the stress and trauma of capitalist discipline leads to spirit possessions in the factory. Unlike the Southeast Asian context, these are not mass episodes: they are individual occurrences treated through prayer, removal of the possessed individual from the factory floor, and the use of holy water. The phenomenon of spirit possession in garment workers has not yet been documented outside of Southeast Asia, yet possession is well documented in other Ethiopian contexts. Here, we argue for a nuanced theory of spirit possession, building on work by Lewis in Ethiopia and Ong in Malaysia, to encompass deprivation, frustration and women’s desire for nurture in the context of strict capitalist discipline and inequitable access to allopathic medical care.