White Utopias

The Religious Exoticism of Transformational Festivals
1. Auflage 2020
ISBN: 978-0-520-37694-6
Verlag: University of California Press

Buch, Englisch, 320 Seiten, Cloth Over Boards, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 544 g

Transformational festivals, from Burning Man to Lightning in a Bottle, Bhakti Fest, and Wanderlust, are massive events that attract thousands of participants to sites around the world. In this groundbreaking book, Amanda J. Lucia shows how these festivals operate as religious institutions for “spiritual, but not religious” (SBNR) communities. Whereas previous research into SBNR practices and New Age religion has not addressed the predominantly white makeup of these communities, White Utopias examines the complicated, often contradictory relationships with race at these events, presenting an engrossing ethnography of SBNR practices. Lucia contends that participants create temporary utopias through their shared commitments to spiritual growth and human connection. But they also participate in religious exoticism by adopting Indigenous and Indic spiritualities, a practice that ultimately renders them exclusive, white utopias. Focusing on yoga’s role in disseminating SBNR values, Lucia offers new ways of comprehending transformational festivals as significant cultural phenomena.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Lucia, Amanda J.

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Ethnologie Kultur- und Sozialethnologie: Allgemeines
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft | Kulturwissenschaften Populärkultur
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Theorie, Politische Philosophie
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Kultursoziologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Vergleichende Religionswissenschaft
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Religionssoziologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Freizeitsoziologie, Konsumsoziologie, Alltagssoziologie, Populärkultur

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Author Note

Introduction

1. Romanticizing the Premodern: The Confluence of Indic and Indigenous Spiritualities
Interlude: Cultural Possession and Whiteness
2. Anxieties over Authenticity: American Yoga and the Problem of Whiteness
Interlude: “White People Are on the Journey of Evolution”
3. Deconstructing the Self: At the Limits of Asceticism
Interlude: Sculpting Bodies and Minds

4. Wonder, Awe, and Peak Experiences: Approaching Mystical Territories
Interlude: Producing Wonder / Branding Freedom
5. The Cathartic Freedom of Transformational Festivals: Neoliberal Escapes and Entrapments

Conclusion

Appendix 1: @Instagram Data for Public Figures Cited
Appendix 2: Methodology
Notes
References
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Amanda J. Lucia is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of California, Riverside, and the author of Reflections of Amma: Devotees in a Global Embrace.