Are We All Spiritual?
(2011) In Journal for the Study of Spirituality 1(2). p.249-268- Abstract
- 'I’m spiritual – not religious' has become a key expression of a new form of globalized religion focussing on a specific notion of spirituality, signifying a universal human essence, located deep inside each individual as a potential for wellbeing and personal transformation. The message is: Spirituality unites us into a single humanity, while religion, with its dogma and rituals, separates us. This new concept of spirituality works mostly in symbiosis with neoliberal ideas about the market, where neo-spiritual therapists and coaches offer to assist individuals in finding and developing their spirituality or 'inner potential'.
In this article, I suggest that this contemporary view of spirituality is produced within a particular... (More) - 'I’m spiritual – not religious' has become a key expression of a new form of globalized religion focussing on a specific notion of spirituality, signifying a universal human essence, located deep inside each individual as a potential for wellbeing and personal transformation. The message is: Spirituality unites us into a single humanity, while religion, with its dogma and rituals, separates us. This new concept of spirituality works mostly in symbiosis with neoliberal ideas about the market, where neo-spiritual therapists and coaches offer to assist individuals in finding and developing their spirituality or 'inner potential'.
In this article, I suggest that this contemporary view of spirituality is produced within a particular social context, and is thus not self-evidently adopted in other contexts. To illustrate this, I draw on my experience of fieldwork in Canadian Mi’kmaq reserves and examples of contemporary spirituality, mainly from Sweden; and consider whether Mi'kmaq notions of spirituality are congruent with those of the 'new spirituality'. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/2518771
- author
- Hornborg, Anne-Christine LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2011
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Canadian Mi’kmaq, global vs. local contexts, Spirituality, inner potential, Sweden
- in
- Journal for the Study of Spirituality
- volume
- 1
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 249 - 268
- publisher
- Equinox Publishing
- ISSN
- 2044-0243
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Centre for Theology and Religious Studies (015017000)
- id
- 038ee43c-3ed3-4dde-b646-269db834e764 (old id 2518771)
- alternative location
- http://www.equinoxpub.com/JSS/article/view/11403
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 10:13:17
- date last changed
- 2018-11-21 19:42:51
@article{038ee43c-3ed3-4dde-b646-269db834e764, abstract = {{'I’m spiritual – not religious' has become a key expression of a new form of globalized religion focussing on a specific notion of spirituality, signifying a universal human essence, located deep inside each individual as a potential for wellbeing and personal transformation. The message is: Spirituality unites us into a single humanity, while religion, with its dogma and rituals, separates us. This new concept of spirituality works mostly in symbiosis with neoliberal ideas about the market, where neo-spiritual therapists and coaches offer to assist individuals in finding and developing their spirituality or 'inner potential'. <br/><br> In this article, I suggest that this contemporary view of spirituality is produced within a particular social context, and is thus not self-evidently adopted in other contexts. To illustrate this, I draw on my experience of fieldwork in Canadian Mi’kmaq reserves and examples of contemporary spirituality, mainly from Sweden; and consider whether Mi'kmaq notions of spirituality are congruent with those of the 'new spirituality'.}}, author = {{Hornborg, Anne-Christine}}, issn = {{2044-0243}}, keywords = {{Canadian Mi’kmaq; global vs. local contexts; Spirituality; inner potential; Sweden}}, language = {{eng}}, number = {{2}}, pages = {{249--268}}, publisher = {{Equinox Publishing}}, series = {{Journal for the Study of Spirituality}}, title = {{Are We All Spiritual?}}, url = {{http://www.equinoxpub.com/JSS/article/view/11403}}, volume = {{1}}, year = {{2011}}, }