Is Sacred Nature Gendered or Queer? Insights from a Study on Eco-Spiritual Activism in Switzerland

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_9FC5303F684E
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Is Sacred Nature Gendered or Queer? Insights from a Study on Eco-Spiritual Activism in Switzerland
Journal
Religions
Author(s)
Becci Irene, Grandjean Alexandre
ISSN
2077-1444
Publication state
Published
Issued date
28/12/2021
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
13
Number
1
Pages
23
Language
english
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.
Keywords
Religious studies
Open Access
Yes
Funding(s)
Swiss National Science Foundation / 169823
Create date
29/11/2021 16:55
Last modification date
06/01/2022 7:34
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