Ficto‐Primitive Capital: What Wellness Seekers Gain From Practicing Shamanism and Other Healing Traditions
Catherine Tan
British Journal of Sociology April 11, 2026 DOI: 10.1111/1468-4446.70119 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Ethnographic study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 41 |
| Population | Self-identified shamanic and spiritual healers across the United States |
| Topics | Shamanism |
| Keywords | Ethnography Indigenous Seekers Popularity Feeling Capital architecture Cultural capital Gender studies Social capital Participant observation Occupational science Narrative Anthropology Mental health Environmental ethics |
| Key findings | American shamans accrue ficto-primitive capital to escape problems associated with Western modernity, yet become agents of cultural imperialism and exploit global inequalities. |
Abstract
Behind its worldly and socially conscious aesthetic, the wellness industry serves the health and fitness interests of North American and European consumers by commercializing non-Western and Indigenous healing traditions, including shamanistic practices. Explored in this paper, "American shamans" seek to heal a range of maladies by collecting traditions found outside of their own cultural heritage, from ceremonies of the Q'ero people in the Andes to those of the Sámi in Scandinavia. As part of an ethnographic study, this paper draws from participant observation and a sample of 41 interviews with self-identified shamanic and spiritual healers across the United States. I introduce ficto-primitive capital to describe the status pursued by individuals who cultivate practices, objects, and relationships associated with communities they imagine as being pre-modern and pre-industrial. American shamans accrue ficto-primitive capital in effort to escape problems they associate with Western modernity: loss of community, feelings of isolation, and lack of cultural substance. Ironically, despite having purported respect for the communities that inspire their healing methods, American shamans become agents of cultural imperialism and exploit global inequalities. Ficto-primitive capital offers an account of why shamanic and other wellness practices are growing in popularity among Westerners.
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 |