The Relational Dynamics of Enchantment and Sacralization - Changing the Terms of the Religion Versus Secularity Debate - Peik Ingman

The Relational Dynamics of Enchantment and Sacralization - Changing the Terms of the Religion Versus Secularity Debate - Peik Ingman

5. Mastery and Modernity: Control Issues in the Disenchantment Tale

The Relational Dynamics of Enchantment and Sacralization - Changing the Terms of the Religion Versus Secularity Debate - Peik Ingman

Linda Annunen [+-]
Åbo Akademi University, PhD candidate
Linda Annunen is a PhD candidate in Comparative Religion at Åbo Akademi University. She is currently writing her doctoral thesis which focuses on West African and shamanistic drumming in contemporary Finnish cities in the light of ritual theories. Her research interests include ritual studies, theorizations of space and place, urban anthropology, and religion and entertainment.
Peik Ingman [+-]
Åbo Akademi University
Peik Ingman is a PhD candidate in Comparative Religion at Åbo Akademi University. He is currently working on a doctoral thesis with the working title ‘Sacralization and the Gift: Queer Family Members in Christian Families’. His research combines actor-network theory, philosophy of science and object relations theory.

Description

The general aim of this chapter is to distinguish between two ways of aligning oneself in relation to unpredictability. One represents the (“official“) stance of disenchanted moderns (religious or not), while the other appreciates the potentially empowering effects of surrendering to enchantment without thereby necessarily denying the risks involved. We will argue the following: 1) reducing life to engaging only in predictable affairs and opting for reliance over trust is impoverishing and ignores the need to attend to concerns regarding the precariousness of individuals’ capacity to trust; 2) one can engage in enchantment without denying that it may be risky; and 3) as long as enchantment is retrospectively translated into calculation (trust is retrospectively translated into reliance), the negative effects of unpredictable relational dynamics remain seemingly the effects of “letting go” (as opposed to the more complex effects of what happened afterwards, that is, the unpredictable but productive effects of compositions). We conclude by noting that another form of mastery is conceivable. It is not a mastery of “letting go”, but a mastery of engaging well with those things one co-composes, having let go (of certainty).

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Citation

Annunen, Linda; Ingman, Peik. 5. Mastery and Modernity: Control Issues in the Disenchantment Tale. The Relational Dynamics of Enchantment and Sacralization - Changing the Terms of the Religion Versus Secularity Debate. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. 85-105 Dec 2016. ISBN 9781781794753. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=30129. Date accessed: 29 Mar 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.30129. Dec 2016

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