Magic and Politics: Conspirituality and COVID-19.
Journal of the American Academy of Religion. American Academy of Religion June 1, 2021 Giovanna Parmigiani
People adopt conspiracy theories not only because of cognitive or emotional weaknesses but also as an aesthetic practice. During Italy's COVID-19 lockdown, the relationship between New Age spirituality and conspiracy theories, termed conspirituality, illustrates this. Drawing on Jacques Rancière's thought and studies of contemporary Paganism and Western esotericism, the article argues that conspiracy-believing expresses dissensus by a community of sense seeking full acknowledgment and legitimization of their participatory or magical way of inhabiting the world, rather than mere visibility.