Spirits in the Social World

Abstract

The usual story told by academics in the field is that modern spirituality is about an ‘inner life’ (Heelas, 2008). However, beyond acknowledgement that inner-life spiritual seekers also participate in particular types of ‘alternative practices’ or follow a specific philosophical path or belief system, we see little of the wider social worlds these inner-selves are embedded within, the inference being that these social contexts are neither relevant nor implicated in the spiritual journey being undertaken. Spirituality is presented as something discrete and separate from the rest of the world and the individual’s relationship with it.

Since each of us was several, there was already quite a crowd.

(Deleuze and Guattari, 2004: 3)