Ayahuasca healing beyond the Amazon: the globalization of a traditional indigenous entheogenic practice
Global Networks December 9, 2008 DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-0374.2009.00245.x (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Ayahuasca |
| Keywords | Indigenous Amazon rainforest Globalization Commodification Appropriation Politics Environmental ethics Aesthetics Anthropology |
| Citations | 107 |
| Key points | Argues that the globalization of ayahuasca use raises philosophical and political concerns about traditional indigenous knowledge, cultural appropriation, and intellectual property, illustrated by a patent dispute and biopiracy allegations. |
Abstract
Abstract Ayahuasca commonly refers to a psychoactive Amazonian indigenous brew traditionally used for spiritual and healing purposes (that is as an entheogen). Since the late twentieth century, ayahuasca has undergone a process of globalization through the uptake of different kinds of socio‐cultural practices, including its sacramental use in some new Brazilian religious movements and its commodified use in cross‐cultural vegetalismo practices, or indigenous‐style rituals conducted primarily for non‐indigenous participants. In this article, I explore the rise of such rituals beyond the Amazon region, and consider some philosophical and political concerns arising from this novel trend in ayahuasca use, including the status of traditional indigenous knowledge, cultural appropriation and intellectual property. I discuss a patent dispute in Unites States and allegations of biopiracy related to ayahuasca. I conclude the article with some reflections on the future of ayahuasca drinking as a transnational sociological phenomenon.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on ayahuasca, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The globalization of ayahuasca: Harm reduction or benefit maximization? | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Ayahuasca Shamanism in the Amazon and Beyond | 2014 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Antipodes of the Mind: Charting the Phenomenology of the Ayahuasca Experience | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Towards psychedelic apprenticeship: Developing a gentle touch for the mediation and validation of psychedelic-induced insights and revelations. | 2022 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Ayahuasca’s entwined efficacy: An ethnographic study of ritual healing from ‘addiction’ | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 74
- Adverse effects of ayahuasca: Results from the Global Ayahuasca Survey. PLOS global public health 2022
- Health status of ayahuasca users. Drug Testing and Analysis 2012
- Ayahuasca Tourism: Participants in Shamanic Rituals and their Personality Styles, Motivation, Benefits and Risks Journal of Psychoactive Drugs October 20, 2015
- Psychological and neuropsychological assessment of regular hoasca users. Comprehensive Psychiatry November 1, 2016
- Psilocybin and MDMA for the treatment of trauma-related psychopathology International Review of Psychiatry April 3, 2021
and 69 more in the library
Cites 13
- Clinical investigations of the therapeutic potential of ayahuasca: rationale and regulatory challenges. Pharmacology & Therapeutics May 1, 2004
- The antipodes Of the mind November 7, 2002
- The globalization of ayahuasca: Harm reduction or benefit maximization? International Journal of Drug Policy December 5, 2006
- One River: Explorations and Discoveries in the Amazon Rain Forest Leonardo 1998
- Drug Tourism or Spiritual Healing? Ayahuasca Seekers in Amazonia Journal of Psychoactive Drugs June 1, 2005
and 8 more in the library