Biodynamic Wine-crafting in Switzerland

The Translation and Adaptation of Rudolf Steiner’s Cosmology into Dark Green Agronomies

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12901430
AutoresAlexandre Grandjean (0000-0002-1280-3578, University of Lausanne, autor de correspondencia)
Año2021
Volumen15
Número3
Páginas317-343
Fecha de publicación2021-11-08
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal for the Study of Religion Nature and Culture (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1749-4907 • E-ISSN: 1749-4915
EditorialEquinox Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1558/jsrnc.40151
OpenAlexW3212172735
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas3
Referencias citadas43

Over the past two decades, Swiss wine-crafting professionals (vignerons) have increasingly turned their attention toward a ‘holistic’ and ecosystemic understanding of their vineyards. Among them, a growing professional segment has engaged in an esoteric agronomy inspired by Rudolf Steiner: Biodynamics. This approach is illustrative of Bron Taylor’s dark green religion applied to agronomy. This ethnographic study describes and analyzes how Swiss vignerons translate and adapt the legacy of Steiner in their everyday lives. After detailing how practitioners frame their engagement in this agronomy, the author distinguishes two processes in the translation and adaptation of Rudolf Steiner’s insights: (a) secularization, which bridges the guidelines of biodynamics and common secular naturalistic ideas; and (b) spiritualization, which relies on supernaturalistic conceptions in line with ‘expressive selfhood’ and the quest for well-being. The author argues that these two processes do not stand in mutual opposition, but rather have been intertwined in Euro-American modernities

Aesthetics · Art · Epistemology · Ethnography · Naturalism · Opposition (politics · Political science · Secularization · Sociology · Visual arts · Wine · Animal and Plant Science Education · Anthropology · Complementary and Alternative Medicine Studies · Law · Philosophy · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices