Calembour de choses dans le vaudou italien Corps-fétiche et principes d’inégalité devant les dieux

The article seeks to identify what ‘sensing religion’ means in the context of the migration of Nigerian women. The author reflects on the transformation of a youngster (cadet social) into a ‘fetish-body’ terrified by the experience of constantly being acted by and at the mercy of another who haunts her. She also analyses the production of the fetish-object, which has both an identity and autonomy, during the ritual. This object consists of all kinds of spiritual ingredients and materials. In such cases, doctors simply diagnose a post-traumatic stress disorder or an acute psychotic state in the form of a magical-religious delusion. On the basis of the biographies of these suffering women, however, the article reflects on the power relations and on the conditions of inequality and dependency that inform the ‘carnal economy’ of Nigerian migration, during which women become in some way related to the gods.