Spirituality and social engagement

Abstract

In this article, I look at how spirituality can be a wellspring of social engagement and activism, based mainly on my research in Quebec, Canada. Less organizational spiritualities are often dismissed as individualistic, narcissistic, and unconcerned with collective well-being. Along with is a growing mass of evidence contributed by other scholars shows that this is often not the case. Using mainly examples from Quebec where my research is situated, I show that spiritual practice is often social; even embodied newer spiritualities typically involve the presence of others; their authenticity is often gauged not only in terms of intrapersonal, embodied experience but also over the longer term, by transformations in close relationships. Spirituality is often mobilized for progressive social ends but not always. I explore some of the ways that spirituality can nourish social engagement and raise the question of how social activism can bolster spirituality, becoming effectively a form of spiritual practice.