>Because the demonization would have been there in the ancient and
>middle ages too. So demonizing those practices wouldn't distinguish
>the transition to the modern
Why would that necessarily be true? If Ginzburg is right, the benandanti had been around for centuries without being demonized. They themselves said at the beginning of the interrogations he studied that they were fighting for the good of their community (namely to ensure a good harvest) and against evil. They considered themselves Christians, as did the people they lived with and among. It was the peculiar institution of the inquisition that turned them into something different in the eyes of their fellows and eventually in their own.
The devil is in the details and what's great about Ginzburg is his supremely close attention to detail combined with a lack of hesitation to make grand suppositions.