In this talk, Andrea Jain illuminates the power dynamics underlying the global yoga industry. She does not just bemoan the commodification of yoga as a numbing device through which consumers ignore the problems of neoliberal capitalism or as the corruption of “authentic” religion, however. Instead, she asks what we should make of discourses in the industry that call on adherents to think beyond the individual, claims to counter the problems of unbridled capitalism, challenges to imperialism and appropriation, calls for women’s empowerment, and efforts to greenwash commodities. Rather than a mode through which consumers ignore, escape, or are numbed to the problems of neoliberal capitalism, many yoga commodities, corporations, and entrepreneurs, Jain argues, do actually acknowledge those problems and, in fact, subvert them; but they subvert them through mere gestures. From provocative taglines to calls for “conscious capitalism,” commodification serves as a strategy through which subversion itself is contained.
We have been taught to see parts. We have been taught to relate to that which is outside ourselves as separate from ourselves. We have also learned to feel into our own brokenness, our sense of fragmentation, our isolation from others and from ourselves. From the scientific, to the political, to ...
What do Black and Xicana feminists teach us about spiritual activism? About being with intersecting identities, our bodies, the planet, and each other? About practicing spiritual activism in this moment? To reflect on these questions, this talk and guided practice devotes particular attention to ...
How can we discuss spiritual citizenship for emancipation when the concept of citizen itself is rooted in the modern binary logic of citizens vs. non-citizens within the geo-political boundary of nation-state? How does spiritual citizenship work with our everyday material-embodied interactions wi...
