Agenda

28 Jan 2026 15:00

Contra-axé: The construction of prohibitions in Afro-Brazilian Candomblé

Online

CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF LIVED RELIGION
Lecture Series Illicit Objects, Lived Religion: Materiality, Performance, and Power

Giovanna Capponi
State University of Rio de Janeiro

Contra-axé: The construction of prohibitions in Afro-Brazilian Candomblé

Abstract
This paper examines ritual prohibitions in Candomblé as a key site for negotiating moral disputes. It analyses how certain foods, plants, and behaviours are framed as contra-axé (literally against axé, life energy), meaning they put at stake positive life energy and the relationship between the initiate to their personal deity, the orixá. At the same time, the paper problematises contested prohibitions around illegal substances, such as cannabis and other drugs, and morally sensitive topics such as abortion, whose practice is legally restricted in Brazil. Drawing on ethnographic material and historical sources, the paper explores how the policing of illicit substances and practices intersects with the criminalisation and historical marginalisation of Afro-Brazilian religions, and asks how debates over what counts as prohibition reconfigure boundaries between legality, morality and religious authority.

Wednesday 28th January 2026
3.00pm-4.00pm CET
Online - For online participation please register at link zoom

For information please contact the Center for the Study of Lived Religion cslr@unive.it

 

Organized by

Department of Asian and North African Studies; Center for the Study of Lived Religion

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