A group of Chagga-speaking men descend the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro
to butcher animals and pour milk, beer, and blood on the ground,
requesting rain for their continued existence. Returning Life explores
how this event engages activities where life force is transferred and
transformed to afford and affect beings of different kinds. Historical
sources demonstrate how the phenomenon of life force encompasses coffee
cash-cropping, Catholic Christianity, and colonial and post-colonial
rule, and features in cognate languages from throughout the area. As
this vivid ethnography explores how life projects through beings of
different kinds, it brings to life concepts and practices that extend
through time and space, transcending established analytics.