Abstract
Among eco-spiritual activists in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, gendered notions such as “Mother Earth” or gendered “nature spirits” are ubiquitous. Drawing on an in-depth ethnographic study of this milieu (2015–2020), this article presents some of the ways in which these activists articulate gender issues with reference to nature. The authors discuss the centrality of the notion of the self and ask what outputs emerge from linking environmental with spiritual action. We demonstrate that activists in three milieus—the New Age and holistic milieu, the transition network, and neo-shamanism—handle this link differently and thereby give birth to a variety of emic perspectives upon the nature/culture divide, as well as upon gender—ranging from essentialist and organicist views to queer approaches. The authors also present more recent observations on the increasing visibility of women and feminists as key public speakers. They conclude with the importance of contextualizing imaginaries that circulate as universalistic and planetary and of relating them to individuals’ gendered selves and their social, political, and economic capital.
Highlights
Study on Eco-Spiritual Activism inThe scholarly literature on contemporary spirituality has often highlighted that beyond the large variety of practices, beliefs, and views that can be observed, there is a core set of ideas that is shared
Some notions such as “cosmic” or “healing energies”1 are used in the realm of spirituality that refers to Earth or to nature as a sacred entity. It is in this realm that what is termed “eco-spirituality” emerged; that is, a set of ideas, discourses, and practices articulating religious and environmental considerations in reference to authors calling for a holistic understanding of societies, the human mind, and their environment, such as Ernst Haeckel, Rudolf Steiner, Arne Naess, and Gregory Bateson (Choné 2016)
Sì encyclical by Pope Francis, a high number of conferences, public demonstrations, urban festivals, and cultural productions in Switzerland have started to contain new forms of eco-activism that include spiritual aspects. Among their different inspirational sources, we found frequent references to neo-shamanism, neo-paganism, green theologies, and holistic approaches
Summary
Study on Eco-Spiritual Activism inThe scholarly literature on contemporary spirituality has often highlighted that beyond the large variety of practices, beliefs, and views that can be observed, there is a core set of ideas that is shared. 22), for instance, studied the centrality of the “self” within New Age practices and Françoise Champion (1995) pointed to the primary importance that is given to personal experience, in particular to bodily felt emotions, and optimism in what she termed the “mystico-esoteric nebulae”. Some notions such as “cosmic” or “healing energies” are used in the realm of spirituality that refers to Earth or to nature as a sacred entity. We shall contribute to these debates and the literature by offering an analysis of observations made between
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