At the end of February, we had our first reading group on the topic of Commodified Wellbeing and Alternative Approaches.  

We read the first chapter titled “Breathe Practice Repeat: Theorizing Neoliberal Spirituality, or, Religion under Neoliberal Capitalism” from the book Peace Love Yoga: The Politics of Global Spirituality by Andrea R. Jain. This chapter focuses on conceptualizing neoliberal spirituality by elaborating on its connections to religion, globalization, and commodification while positioning it within the broader dynamics of neoliberal capitalism. We also read “Well-Being Within and Beyond the Body: Towards Careful Planetary Engagements” by Iza Kavedžija which addresses well-being, its embodiment, links to ethics, and suffering but also its place in a world of many environmental issues, conflicts, and inequalities.  

The readings prompted fruitful discussions on topics like commodification of wellbeing practices, migration dynamics, religion and spirituality, and the tensions between individual responsibility for self-care, and the call for collective and intergenerational approaches to care and wellbeing.  

Overall, discussing the readings together in our interdisciplinary team made us better understand the relations between the wellness industry and the social and cultural dimensions of wellbeing more broadly and motivated us to reflect on how they relate to our WELL-ASIA project and our different fieldwork sites.  

In the coming week, we have our second reading group on the topic of Patchwork Ethnography. Follow along on this website for updates on future reading groups.

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