Religious Entrepreneurship and the Informal Economic Sector. Orisa Worship as 'Service Provider' in Nigeria and the United States

bibliographic database
Line

Periodical article

Title:	Religious Entrepreneurship and the Informal Economic Sector. Orisa Worship as 'Service Provider' in Nigeria and the United States
Author:	Falola, Toyin
Year:	1999
Periodical:	Paideuma
Volume:	45
Pages:	115-135
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Nigeria United States
Subjects:	divination African religions informal sector Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Religion and Witchcraft
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/40341767
Abstract:	'La Regla de Ocha' (the law of the 'orisa'), as it is referred to by practitioners in the United States and Cuba, along with 'orisa' worship in Nigeria, is structured as a client religion, in which services are purchased. This article examines diviners, particularly those of the 'babalawo' (high priest) tradition, as service providers who function within the informal economic sector among Cuban populations in Houston as well as indigenous populations in Nigeria. It draws on the model of religion as a free market proposed by Stephen R. Warner (1993) and Roger Finke and Laurence Iannaccone (1993). Bibliogr., ref., sum.