Spirituality and Nature in the Anthropocene

Thursday, 10 July 2025: 11:00-12:45
Location: ASJE018 (Annex of the Faculty of Legal, Economic, and Social Sciences)
RC22 Sociology of Religion (host committee)

Language: English and Spanish

While sociological scholarship on religion has focused primarily on the rise of religious diversity and non-religion in recent decades, two parallel trends are emerging in societies globally. These are an interest in spirituality and also strong connections to nature, which may or may not have a spiritual dimension. Bron Taylor predicted this uptake of ‘Deep Green Religion’ and more recently Paul Bramadat has found ‘reverential naturalism’ to be the most prevalent worldview of Cascadia. Anna Halafoff and colleagues describe a more ‘down-to-earth’, ‘relational naturalism’ in Australia. This panel explores the contemporary relevance of spirituality and nature in the Anthropocene, and welcomes papers from multiple societies and (non)religious contexts
Session Organizers:
Anna HALAFOFF, Deakon University, Australia, Paul BRAMADAT, University of Victoria, Canada and Sumedha DUTTA, Central University of Punjab, India
Oral Presentations
Reconnecting to (one’s own-)Nature through Consultations with Horses: An Ethnographic Study of Neo-Shamanism
Geraldine MOSSIERE, Université de Montréal, Canada
"Alone Australia": Spirituality and Nature-Connection in the Anthropocene
Anna HALAFOFF, Deakon University, Australia; Samantha HAUW, Deakin University, Australia; Tyson YUNKAPORTA, Deakin University, Australia
Sikhism and Environmental Activism: A Comprehensive Analysis of Ecosikh and Khalsa Aid Fostering Sustainability and Justice
Anoop SINGH, central university of Punjab, India; Sumedha DUTTA, Central University of Punjab, India
The Sacred Groves (Kaavu) of Kerala: Hinduisation of Kerala’s Indigenous Ecological Spaces
Dr. Lekha N. B., Ph.D, Sree Narayana College, India; Antony PALACKAL, University of Kerala, India
Mother Nature: Spirituality and Gender Essentialism in Australian Natural Childbirth Communities
Jayne GARROD, Australia
Distributed Papers
Post-Institutional Spirituality in the Anthropocene
Paul BRAMADAT, University of Victoria, Canada
From Personal Health to Planetary Care: Women's Activism and Toxicity Narratives in Uruguay and Catalonia
Mar GRIERA, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain; Sibila VIGNA, Universidad de la República, Uruguay
Ecological Spiritualities: An Ethnographic Approach from the Spanish Case
Alba SIGUERO LIZANO, Spain
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