I am a postdoctoral research fellow in the ERC project CoachingRituals, in Saint-Louis (Brussels).
I completed my PhD in Sociology at the EHESS (Paris) under the supervision of Cyril Lemieux in 2022.
Title of my PHD research:
"Magics of Modernity. Illegitimacy and Legitimization of Magnetism in France and Shamanism in Peru"
Abstract:
For a long time, in industrial societies, magical practices such as shamanism, fortune-telling, spiritualism or magnetism were disqualified, even repressed, on the pretext that they were incompatible with modernity: from the point of view of an “analogic” ontology they seemed destined to disappear in western and westernized countries, because of the growing power of “naturalism”—to use the categories forged by Philippe Descola. In the past few decades, however, we can observe how these magical and traditional practices are increasingly tolerated. In some cases, they are even promoted and protected by institutional actors (for instance, in hospitals or museums). To explain this change of attitude, many researchers invoke a general cultural change. This invocation, however, not only ignores analyses of how this change is related to structural transformations of industrial societies, but also obstructs examination of how these practices have transformed. These transformations are the object of study in this PhD dissertation, which consists of two empirical case-studies: magnetism in France and shamanism in the Lambayeque region of Peru. On the basis of comparative research combining ethnography and socio-historical investigation, I analyze the significant social work, often left in the shadows by scholars studying it, that has been done in recent decades to conform these two practices to the expectations of industrial modernity—a process I call “simple modernization” and that involves their professionalization and marketization. In doing so, I show that contemporary challenges of the foundations of industrial society, through critique of the superiority granted to western (naturalist) knowledge over ancient (analogic) knowledge, is not a “return to the past” as some actors would claim, but rather a next step in the accomplishment of the project of modernity—corresponding, in this case, to the transition to reflexive modernization. The dissertation establishes the central role that the social sciences play in this process, a role of which, it is argued, they should become more aware.
Keywords:
magical practices – professionalization – marketization – naturalism/analogy – sociology of medicine – sociology of heritage – reflexive modernity.
Supervisors: Cyril Lemieux
I completed my PhD in Sociology at the EHESS (Paris) under the supervision of Cyril Lemieux in 2022.
Title of my PHD research:
"Magics of Modernity. Illegitimacy and Legitimization of Magnetism in France and Shamanism in Peru"
Abstract:
For a long time, in industrial societies, magical practices such as shamanism, fortune-telling, spiritualism or magnetism were disqualified, even repressed, on the pretext that they were incompatible with modernity: from the point of view of an “analogic” ontology they seemed destined to disappear in western and westernized countries, because of the growing power of “naturalism”—to use the categories forged by Philippe Descola. In the past few decades, however, we can observe how these magical and traditional practices are increasingly tolerated. In some cases, they are even promoted and protected by institutional actors (for instance, in hospitals or museums). To explain this change of attitude, many researchers invoke a general cultural change. This invocation, however, not only ignores analyses of how this change is related to structural transformations of industrial societies, but also obstructs examination of how these practices have transformed. These transformations are the object of study in this PhD dissertation, which consists of two empirical case-studies: magnetism in France and shamanism in the Lambayeque region of Peru. On the basis of comparative research combining ethnography and socio-historical investigation, I analyze the significant social work, often left in the shadows by scholars studying it, that has been done in recent decades to conform these two practices to the expectations of industrial modernity—a process I call “simple modernization” and that involves their professionalization and marketization. In doing so, I show that contemporary challenges of the foundations of industrial society, through critique of the superiority granted to western (naturalist) knowledge over ancient (analogic) knowledge, is not a “return to the past” as some actors would claim, but rather a next step in the accomplishment of the project of modernity—corresponding, in this case, to the transition to reflexive modernization. The dissertation establishes the central role that the social sciences play in this process, a role of which, it is argued, they should become more aware.
Keywords:
magical practices – professionalization – marketization – naturalism/analogy – sociology of medicine – sociology of heritage – reflexive modernity.
Supervisors: Cyril Lemieux
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Papers by Fanny Charrasse
Thesis Chapters by Fanny Charrasse
Ce sont ces transformations que nous étudions dans cette thèse, à partir de deux cas empiriques : le magnétisme en France et le chamanisme dans la région du Lambayeque au Pérou. Reposant sur une méthode comparative, qui combine ethnographie et enquête sociohistorique, notre démarche consiste à analyser l’immense travail social, souvent laissé dans l’ombre, qui a été fourni, ces dernières décennies, afin de conformer ces deux pratiques aux attentes de la modernité industrielle – processus que nous appelons leur modernisation simple et qui passe en particulier par leur professionnalisation et leur marchandisation. Ce faisant, nous montrons que la remise en cause contemporaine des fondements de la société industrielle, à travers la critique de la supériorité qui y est accordée aux savoirs occidentaux (naturalistes) par rapport à ceux ancestraux (analogiques), constitue moins un « retour en arrière » comme l’affirment certain·e·s acteur·rice·s, qu’un pas supplémentaire dans l’accomplissement du projet moderne – qui correspond, en l’occurrence, au passage à une modernisation réflexive. A cette occasion, nous établissons le rôle central que les sciences sociales jouent dans un tel processus, un rôle dont il nous semble important qu’elles prennent davantage conscience.
pratiques magiques – professionnalisation – marchandisation – naturalisme/analogisme – sociologie de la médecine – sociologie du patrimoine – modernité réflexive.
Ce sont ces transformations que nous étudions dans cette thèse, à partir de deux cas empiriques : le magnétisme en France et le chamanisme dans la région du Lambayeque au Pérou. Reposant sur une méthode comparative, qui combine ethnographie et enquête sociohistorique, notre démarche consiste à analyser l’immense travail social, souvent laissé dans l’ombre, qui a été fourni, ces dernières décennies, afin de conformer ces deux pratiques aux attentes de la modernité industrielle – processus que nous appelons leur modernisation simple et qui passe en particulier par leur professionnalisation et leur marchandisation. Ce faisant, nous montrons que la remise en cause contemporaine des fondements de la société industrielle, à travers la critique de la supériorité qui y est accordée aux savoirs occidentaux (naturalistes) par rapport à ceux ancestraux (analogiques), constitue moins un « retour en arrière » comme l’affirment certain·e·s acteur·rice·s, qu’un pas supplémentaire dans l’accomplissement du projet moderne – qui correspond, en l’occurrence, au passage à une modernisation réflexive. A cette occasion, nous établissons le rôle central que les sciences sociales jouent dans un tel processus, un rôle dont il nous semble important qu’elles prennent davantage conscience.
pratiques magiques – professionnalisation – marchandisation – naturalisme/analogisme – sociologie de la médecine – sociologie du patrimoine – modernité réflexive.