The economic life of new religiosities in Argentinean middle classes. An ethnographic approach in the Art of Living Movement

NICOLÁS VIOTTI

Buenos Aires

Congreso; International Sociological Association (ISA) - Second Forum of Sociology; 2012

International Sociological Association (ISA)

A contemporary trend of spiritual experiences that emphasizes the importance of economic success, prosperity and a positive relationship with money has reached high visibility in Latin American contexts. A true corporate culture goes through various religious phenomena, such as renewed christianity and the so-called New Age, forcing us to rethink the classical separation between economics and religion as autonomous "spheres" of social and moral life in Western modern societies. This paper proposes a reflection on the articulation between religion and economic life from an ethnographic perspective. It is focused on the concepts and practices related to prosperity, money and entrepreneurship in The Art of Living, a movement of ?personal growth? that has gained great visibility among the urban middle sectors of Argentina during the last decade. The work is the result of an ethnographic analysis with participants from two centers of The Art of Living in Buenos Aires. The argument intends to use this case to analyze the place of commodity logic in contemporary spirituality, showing localized regimes of exchange between things, persons and spiritual entities. At the same time, it tries to understand The Art of Living?s sociality on the horizon that characterizes the culture of the Argentine middle classes.