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Technologies of the Self in Contemporary South American Shamanisms

Pablo Wright

Indigenous Religious Traditions August 4, 2023 DOI: 10.1558/irt.25160 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Comparative ethnographic analysis Peer reviewed
Population Qom/Toba indigenous community in Argentina's Chaco region and practitioners of Santo Daime in Brazil
Topics Shamanism
Keywords Indigenous Contest Ethnography Hegemony Anthropology
Citations 1
Key findings Both Qom/Toba shamanism and Santo Daime employ technologies of the self that create ontological thresholds contesting Christian and scientific hegemonic worldviews.

Abstract

I adapt Michel Foucault’s notion of technologies of the self to carry out a comparative analysis of two ethnographic cases of contemporary South American shamanisms. In these cases, their cosmological and ritual frameworks display ontological thresholds acceded through specific technologies of the self that contest current assumptions about both the Christian and the scientific hegemonic worldviews. In the first case, I review an indigenous ethnic shamanism rooted in Qom/Toba tradition in Argentina’s Chaco region. In the second one, I analyze Santo Daime, a Brazilian ayahuasca religion that displays shamanic traits. To contextualize these cases, I introduce historical data of the constitution of Argentine and Brazilian socio-religious fields, within which these forms of shamanism would emerge. I provide ethnographic data about the history and main religious features of these shamanisms and my analysis stresses the technologies of the self unfolded to achieve a direct connection with the numinous.

Comparable studies

Other qualitative studies on shamanism, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
"Plantas con madre": plants that teach and guide in the shamanic initiation process in the East-Central Peruvian Amazon. Curanderos, apprentices, and herbalists in East-Central Peru, including Mestizo,... 2011 Qualitative study n = 36
Purging and the body in the therapeutic use of ayahuasca Healers and participants in shamanic tourism contexts of the Peruvian Amazon and... 2019 Ethnography with literature review n = 227
The Globalization of Ayahuasca Shamanism and the Erasure of Indigenous Shamanism Western tourists and indigenous peoples in Iquitos, Peru 2016 Ethnography
Shamanism and Rock Art in Far Western North America Historic hunter-gatherer cultures of California and the Great Basin 1992 Ethnographic review and analysis
Working with “La Medicina”: Elements of Healing in Contemporary Ayahuasca Rituals Ayahuasqueros and Western participants in shamanic tourism in Iquitos, Peru 2012 Ethnography

Citations in the library

Cites 4

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Shamanism Ayahuasca