Abstract
The spread of conspiracy theories and associated vaccine rejection within the wellness industry and spiritual communities during the COVID-19 pandemic attracted significant media and scholarly attention. Informed by the '(Con)spirituality, Science and COVID-19 in Australia' project (2020-2021) (Halafoff, Marriott, et al., 2022; Halafoff, Weng, et al., 2022; Roginski & Rocha, 2022), funded by the Templeton Religion Trust and awarded via the International Research Network for the Study of Science and Belief in Society (INSBS), this chapter reports on findings pertaining to holistic spirituality, purity doctrines and wellness, arising from a parallel pilot study on 'Spirituality and Wellness (SWell) in Australia' (2021). Both studies have revealed a 'spiritual complexity' in Australia and internationally, and the authors report on this here, focussed particularly on spirituality's quest for pristine bodies, and on spiritual 'moral communities' (Ganga Kieffer, 2023) exceptionalism and relationality.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Researching Contemporary Wellness Cultures |
Editors | Naomi Smith, Clare Southerton, Marianne Clark |
Place of Publication | U.K. |
Publisher | Emerald Publishing |
Pages | 15-32 |
Number of pages | 18 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781804555842 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781804555859 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 3 Jul 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2024 by Anna Halafoff, Ruth Fitzpatrick and Cristina Rocha. All rights reserved.
Keywords
- Australia
- Bodies
- Conspirtuality
- COVID-19
- Spirituality
- Wellness