POLITICAL SHAMANS IN A FOUCAULDIAN PERSPECTIVE: HOW SHAMANS REMAIN PRESENT IN POLITICAL CONTESTATION
Anggi Fransiska Putri
SOSIOEDUKASI JURNAL ILMIAH ILMU PENDIDIKAN DAN SOSIAL June 30, 2026 DOI: 10.36526/sosioedukasi.v15i2.8146 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Pangro Village community and candidates in village head elections |
| Topics | Mysticism Shamanism |
| Keywords | Rationality Politics Modernity Epistemology Object grammar Social science |
| Key points | Argues that mystical rationality supporting shamans as political consultants persists in village elections because it is sustained by local cultural knowledge and has adapted to coexist with modern reasoning. |
Abstract
This article is not explaining how scientifically shamans are able to smooth the way for candidates in winning electoral politics, but rather this article aims to explain how the formation of discourse is built to support the rationality of political shamans so that there are still many who trust and use their services. Using the object of study at the moment of the election of the village head (pilkades) in Pangro Village in Central Java, the Foucauldian analysis attempts to examine the foundation of knowledge why shamans can have the role of "political consultants" in the midst of the current of modernity that relies on logical reasoning in the work of electoral political victory. The results of the study show, based on the genealogy of knowledge tracking, the rapid flow of modernity does not necessarily eliminate shamanism, but this rationality is transformed so that mystical reasoning can still exist following modern reasoning today. Likewise, the archaeological search of knowledge, which shows that traces of knowledge supporting the existence of shamans are still scattered quite dominant in the culture of the community so that their existence does not disappear, but rather has a strong place in people's beliefs, especially for the village community and candidates in the elections. This study concludes that mystical rationality is supported by citizen knowledge, which is maintained continuously in the local culture.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on shamanism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ayahuasca Shamanism in the Amazon and Beyond | 2014 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Shamanism as the Original Neurotheology | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Cognitive Neuroscience, Shamanism and the Rock Art of Native California | 1998 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From Culture to Experience: Shamanism in the Pages of the Soviet Anti-Religious Press | 2020 | Historical analysis | |
| Anthropology, Shamanism, and Alternate Ways of Knowing–Being in the World: One Anthropologist's Journey of Discovery and Transformation | 2010 | Reflective essay or personal narrative |