Is Sacred Nature Gendered or Queer? Insights from a Study on Eco-Spiritual Activism in Switzerland
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 the...
| Authors: | ; |
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| Tipo de documento: | Recurso Electrónico Artigo |
| Idioma: | Inglês |
| Verificar disponibilidade: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Carregar...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Publicado em: |
MDPI
2022
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| Em: |
Religions
Ano: 2022, Volume: 13, Número: 1 |
| Outras palavras-chave: | B
holistic practices
B Neo-shamanism B New Age B eco-psychology B Eco-spirituality B Switzerland B Ecofeminism |
| Acesso em linha: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Resumo: | 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. |
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| ISSN: | 2077-1444 |
| Obras secundárias: | Enthalten in: Religions
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.3390/rel13010023 |