Alumna, Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology
Thesis Title: Where did the Spirit go?! Representation and Reality of the Economic, Ecological, and Existential Dynamics in Intentional Communities in Bahia, Brazil
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Prof. Dr. B. Meyer
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About
This thesis is an intercultural product of the encounter between me and people on a quest for an alternative lifestyle incorporating aspects of spirituality and ecological sustainability. It is the result of a qualitative, interpretative study of the human attempt to make sense of this world and human beings’ place in it, in particular to processes of signification in connection to spiritual fulfilment. This contemporary alternative spirituality has a focus on self-development and self-awareness and appears to be related to a growing awareness of environmental degradation and the call for more ecological sustainable ways of life. Intentional communities attempt to provide the space for these two contemporary values to come together and as a network they illustrate the emergence of an alternative complex that is at once ecological, holistic, and spiritual. Searching for previous research it seems that this phenomenon has not gained a lot of attention. Most studies on intentional communities are about social cohesion and identity construction, and little attention has been given to the ecological and existential dimensions and their interrelatedness.
There seems to be a certain gap between the image depicted by these intentional communities; the dream that they are selling, and the experienced reality. I conducted field research at three intentional communities in Bahia, Brazil between January and April 2010. I collected ethnographic material through participant observation, open interviews, field-notes, document collection, e-mail conversations, and experiential observation. In order to more fully understand meanings and informants’ experiences, I adopted a more ‘sensual approach’ by experiencing certain spiritual practices myself. For instance, I experienced the psycho-active substance Ayahuasca during a sacred ceremony, I received Deeksha blessings and Reiki healings, I joined in Osho inspired active meditations and an ‘Angel Walk’ during a ‘woman’s circle’. I adopted this sensual approach not only in the field, but also on paper: by considering other senses next to the priviliged sense of sight, I attempt to make my ethnography more vivid and accessible and to represent my experiences more truly to the realities of my field sites. My aim is to provide a more scientific account with this sensory representation.
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