Matteo Di Placido
Biographic Data
| ID | 948016 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Matteo Di Placido |
| GIVEN NAMES | Matteo |
| FAMILY NAME | Di Placido |
| SIGNATURE | DI PLACIDO M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Turin |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6673-4598 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 20 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Multiple habitus
This article introduces the idea of multiple habitus , a heuristic tool for analyzing the transmission, incorporation and social reproduction of religious teachings within a continuously transforming spiritual field. Drawing on data from the project ‘Buddhism in Italy’ we show how Italian Buddhism articulates a plurality of “core dispositions” that display notable congruence across major Buddhist traditions while simultaneously reflecting the loc…
The ‘Body at a distance
This article shows that the progressive online transposition of yoga teaching has exacerbated tensions and ambivalences inherent in the processes of inclusion, dissemination and consumption of contemporary yoga with regard to three pivotal and interwoven aspects where practitioners’ bodies are crucial: the verbal instructions used by teachers, which in online pedagogies become the primary means of transmission of specific ‘body techniques’ and fo…
After the Buddha
In this article, based on a selection of 267 semi-structured personal interviews with Buddhist practitioners conducted for the project “Buddhism in Italy” (2022–2023), we investigate the present state of Buddhism in Italy, accounting for its plural, hybrid, and global ethos. We enquire into the ways in which the three main forms of legitimate domination classically theorized by Max Weber—‘legal’ or ‘rational’, ‘traditional’, and ‘charismatic’—inf…
Buddhist therapeutics’
Despite ‘new’ and ‘alternative’ religious and spiritual movements centred on health and wellbeing have gained international significance, cultural analysis of the overlapping logics of religion and health in contemporary forms of Buddhism is a substantially unexplored, although sociologically promising, object of study. Relying on empirical research conducted within the Project ‘Buddhism in Italy’ and on a close analysis of the literature on Budd…
The Medicalization of the Sacred and the Sacralization of Care
The study of the relationships among religion, spirituality and medicine is an important and expanding field of study, especially in the light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, which stressed the need to support health care professionals, patients and their families in a time of exceptional social, healthcare and psychological disruption [...]
Religious Freedom, Governance of Religious Diversity, and Interreligious Dialogue
Religious freedom, the management of religious diversity, and interreligious dialogue are emerging and closely interconnected phenomena. In the context of increasing religious pluralism, policymakers, religious institutions, and other civil society actors and organizations face challenges, particularly as they strive to legitimize their religious, social, and legal positions in contemporary societies. Drawing on 47 interviews with policymakers (N…
Ageing well
Praying interaction rituals
In this article, I contribute to the development of the sociology of prayer focusing on the practice of bhaktiyoga, or yoga of devotion, within the largely influential, although substantially understudied, Mooji’s neo-Guru movement. Methodologically, I rely on the tools of reflexive sociology, autoethnography, and discourse analysis while theoretically I advance a preliminary theorization of praying interaction rituals through a coupled reading o…
Scholar–Practitioners”, Reflexivity and the Illusio of the Field
This article dialogues with “yoga studies” and the social scientific study of religion (e.g., the sociology of religion and religious studies), arguing that both substantially neglect a thorough discussion of scholars’ engagement in the field despite being largely composed by “scholar–practitioners”. This is problematic from a methodological point of view as well as from an ethical perspective. Moving in the interstices between biographical refle…
Institutional, Nurses’ and Patients’ Spiritual Imaginaries Compared
In this article we seek to compare institutional, professional (largely nurses’) and patients’ perspectives on spirituality with the aim of contributing to two different, albeit potentially overlapping, strands of research, namely, the study of the governance of religious diversity and the inclusion of spiritual interventions in hospital settings, using data collected in the research project RESPIRO (breath) (2019–2022). Importantly, in this arti…
Spiritualities of the Body
Modern postural yoga, a body-mind practice developed in the last hundred and fifty years at the intersection of therapeutic, fitness and spiritual logics, is experiencing an unprecedented worldwide diffusion, including in Italy. This article, relying on discourse analysis of three yoga manuals and twenty-seven biographical interviews of yoga practitioners, aims at exploring yoga's positioning in the Italian context, with particular attention paid…
A Preliminary Genealogy of Yoga in Italy
In this article, we design a preliminary genealogy of yoga in Italy, showing its positioning within the growing field of "contemporary spiritualities", their premodern, esoteric and theosophical roots and Catholicism. Our main claim is that yoga and contemporary spiritualities as practiced in XXI-century Italy are neither entirely new nor are they clearly an alternative to more established religions. We rely on the methods and tools of a "discurs…
Modern Yoga Research as a Discursive Formation
The practice of yoga is on the rise, as much as its academic scrutiny. Scholars, especially within the disciplinary boundaries of religious studies, South Asian studies, Indology, anthropology, and sociology, have recently started to critically inquire into the birth and transnational developments of modern forms of yoga, tracing their genealogies and textual roots. This expanding literature has in turn contributed to the constitution of the emer…
Modern Postural Yoga and the Health-Spirituality-Neoliberalism Nexus
The practice of yoga has become an integral part of practitioners’ lifestyles, spirituality and therapeutic paths across the world, not to mention institutional and governmental interventions of a pedagogical, rehabilitative and political nature in settings as diverse as schools, hospitals and prisons. While social science literature has explored some of these areas of analysis, we currently know little about how particular conceptions of health …
Exploring Engaged Spirituality through Martial Arts
In this article, through a carnal and participant approach to ethnography, we consider the pedagogical repertoires of Boxe Popolare (a style of boxing codified by Italian leftist grassroots groups) and Odaka Yoga (an innovative type of postural yoga blended with martial arts elements). We provide a close reading of what we call the pedagogies of engagement cultivated by these two practices, appreciating how their underlying spiritual philosophies…
The satsang dispositif
This article seeks to contribute to the study of power and authority in the context of the contemporary sociology of religion. It provides a discursive and ethnographic account of the neo-Advaita guru Mooji and his teachings, with a focus on the main practice he advocates, namely the satsang. The article explores the guru–disciple relationship, the authoritarian and charismatic role of the teacher, and the devotees’ processes of disciplining and …
Inhaling Spirit
The Yoga Studies Dispositif
In this paper I provide a preliminary account of the Yoga Studies Dispositif , that is, that specific apparatus of knowledge production, legitimization, and dissemination that has allowed the birth and development of the discipline of “modern yoga research” as an autonomous field of study and, in turn, has asserted the study of modern forms of yoga as its primary object of inquiry. More specifically, and in line with the constructionist epistemol…
Blending Martial Arts and Yoga for Health
This paper introduces the case study of Odaka Yoga, an innovative style of postural yoga blended with martial arts elements which emphasizes the importance of practitioners' health and processes of self-transformation as pivotal to the school's ethos. More specifically, the paper explores how Odaka Yoga's philosophical backdrops and practical repertoire, composed by a mixture of "exotic" resources such as Bushido, zen, yoga, and a constant refere…
Between Pleasure and Resistance
In this article I discuss how illegal substance consumption can act as a tool of resistance and as an identity signifier for young people through a covert ethnographic case study of a working-class subculture in Genoa, North-Western Italy. I develop my argument through a coupled reading of the work of the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) and more recent post-structural developments in the fields of youth studies and cultural critic…
Serving, Contemplating and Praying
In this paper, I discuss the role of spiritual seekers’ embodiment of karma, jnana and bhakti yoga(s) in the context of a neo-Vedantic, non-monastic ashram located in southern-Europe, an ashram I regard as an example of modern denominational yoga. Methodologically, I rely on an ex-post multi-sensory autoethnography, involving apprenticeship and full participation immersion, and I share with physical cultural studies a commitment to empirically co…
The Yoga Studies Dispositif
In this paper I provide a preliminary account of the Yoga Studies Dispositif , that is, that specific apparatus of knowledge production, legitimization, and dissemination that has allowed the birth and development of the discipline of “modern yoga research” as an autonomous field of study and, in turn, has asserted the study of modern forms of yoga as its primary object of inquiry. More specifically, and in line with the constructionist epistemol…
Blending Martial Arts and Yoga for Health
This paper introduces the case study of Odaka Yoga, an innovative style of postural yoga blended with martial arts elements which emphasizes the importance of practitioners' health and processes of self-transformation as pivotal to the school's ethos. More specifically, the paper explores how Odaka Yoga's philosophical backdrops and practical repertoire, composed by a mixture of "exotic" resources such as Bushido, zen, yoga, and a constant refere…
Scholar–Practitioners”, Reflexivity and the Illusio of the Field
This article dialogues with “yoga studies” and the social scientific study of religion (e.g., the sociology of religion and religious studies), arguing that both substantially neglect a thorough discussion of scholars’ engagement in the field despite being largely composed by “scholar–practitioners”. This is problematic from a methodological point of view as well as from an ethical perspective. Moving in the interstices between biographical refle…
Exploring Engaged Spirituality through Martial Arts
In this article, through a carnal and participant approach to ethnography, we consider the pedagogical repertoires of Boxe Popolare (a style of boxing codified by Italian leftist grassroots groups) and Odaka Yoga (an innovative type of postural yoga blended with martial arts elements). We provide a close reading of what we call the pedagogies of engagement cultivated by these two practices, appreciating how their underlying spiritual philosophies…
The satsang dispositif
This article seeks to contribute to the study of power and authority in the context of the contemporary sociology of religion. It provides a discursive and ethnographic account of the neo-Advaita guru Mooji and his teachings, with a focus on the main practice he advocates, namely the satsang. The article explores the guru–disciple relationship, the authoritarian and charismatic role of the teacher, and the devotees’ processes of disciplining and …
Serving, Contemplating and Praying
In this paper, I discuss the role of spiritual seekers’ embodiment of karma, jnana and bhakti yoga(s) in the context of a neo-Vedantic, non-monastic ashram located in southern-Europe, an ashram I regard as an example of modern denominational yoga. Methodologically, I rely on an ex-post multi-sensory autoethnography, involving apprenticeship and full participation immersion, and I share with physical cultural studies a commitment to empirically co…
Ageing well
Institutional, Nurses’ and Patients’ Spiritual Imaginaries Compared
In this article we seek to compare institutional, professional (largely nurses’) and patients’ perspectives on spirituality with the aim of contributing to two different, albeit potentially overlapping, strands of research, namely, the study of the governance of religious diversity and the inclusion of spiritual interventions in hospital settings, using data collected in the research project RESPIRO (breath) (2019–2022). Importantly, in this arti…
A Preliminary Genealogy of Yoga in Italy
In this article, we design a preliminary genealogy of yoga in Italy, showing its positioning within the growing field of "contemporary spiritualities", their premodern, esoteric and theosophical roots and Catholicism. Our main claim is that yoga and contemporary spiritualities as practiced in XXI-century Italy are neither entirely new nor are they clearly an alternative to more established religions. We rely on the methods and tools of a "discurs…
Serving, Contemplating and Praying
In this paper, I discuss the role of spiritual seekers’ embodiment of karma, jnana and bhakti yoga(s) in the context of a neo-Vedantic, non-monastic ashram located in southern-Europe, an ashram I regard as an example of modern denominational yoga. Methodologically, I rely on an ex-post multi-sensory autoethnography, involving apprenticeship and full participation immersion, and I share with physical cultural studies a commitment to empirically co…
Between Pleasure and Resistance
In this article I discuss how illegal substance consumption can act as a tool of resistance and as an identity signifier for young people through a covert ethnographic case study of a working-class subculture in Genoa, North-Western Italy. I develop my argument through a coupled reading of the work of the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) and more recent post-structural developments in the fields of youth studies and cultural critic…
Blending Martial Arts and Yoga for Health
This paper introduces the case study of Odaka Yoga, an innovative style of postural yoga blended with martial arts elements which emphasizes the importance of practitioners' health and processes of self-transformation as pivotal to the school's ethos. More specifically, the paper explores how Odaka Yoga's philosophical backdrops and practical repertoire, composed by a mixture of "exotic" resources such as Bushido, zen, yoga, and a constant refere…
Inhaling Spirit
The Yoga Studies Dispositif
In this paper I provide a preliminary account of the Yoga Studies Dispositif , that is, that specific apparatus of knowledge production, legitimization, and dissemination that has allowed the birth and development of the discipline of “modern yoga research” as an autonomous field of study and, in turn, has asserted the study of modern forms of yoga as its primary object of inquiry. More specifically, and in line with the constructionist epistemol…
Modern Yoga Research as a Discursive Formation
The practice of yoga is on the rise, as much as its academic scrutiny. Scholars, especially within the disciplinary boundaries of religious studies, South Asian studies, Indology, anthropology, and sociology, have recently started to critically inquire into the birth and transnational developments of modern forms of yoga, tracing their genealogies and textual roots. This expanding literature has in turn contributed to the constitution of the emer…
Modern Postural Yoga and the Health-Spirituality-Neoliberalism Nexus
The practice of yoga has become an integral part of practitioners’ lifestyles, spirituality and therapeutic paths across the world, not to mention institutional and governmental interventions of a pedagogical, rehabilitative and political nature in settings as diverse as schools, hospitals and prisons. While social science literature has explored some of these areas of analysis, we currently know little about how particular conceptions of health …
Exploring Engaged Spirituality through Martial Arts
In this article, through a carnal and participant approach to ethnography, we consider the pedagogical repertoires of Boxe Popolare (a style of boxing codified by Italian leftist grassroots groups) and Odaka Yoga (an innovative type of postural yoga blended with martial arts elements). We provide a close reading of what we call the pedagogies of engagement cultivated by these two practices, appreciating how their underlying spiritual philosophies…
The satsang dispositif
This article seeks to contribute to the study of power and authority in the context of the contemporary sociology of religion. It provides a discursive and ethnographic account of the neo-Advaita guru Mooji and his teachings, with a focus on the main practice he advocates, namely the satsang. The article explores the guru–disciple relationship, the authoritarian and charismatic role of the teacher, and the devotees’ processes of disciplining and …
Praying interaction rituals
In this article, I contribute to the development of the sociology of prayer focusing on the practice of bhaktiyoga, or yoga of devotion, within the largely influential, although substantially understudied, Mooji’s neo-Guru movement. Methodologically, I rely on the tools of reflexive sociology, autoethnography, and discourse analysis while theoretically I advance a preliminary theorization of praying interaction rituals through a coupled reading o…
Scholar–Practitioners”, Reflexivity and the Illusio of the Field
This article dialogues with “yoga studies” and the social scientific study of religion (e.g., the sociology of religion and religious studies), arguing that both substantially neglect a thorough discussion of scholars’ engagement in the field despite being largely composed by “scholar–practitioners”. This is problematic from a methodological point of view as well as from an ethical perspective. Moving in the interstices between biographical refle…
Institutional, Nurses’ and Patients’ Spiritual Imaginaries Compared
In this article we seek to compare institutional, professional (largely nurses’) and patients’ perspectives on spirituality with the aim of contributing to two different, albeit potentially overlapping, strands of research, namely, the study of the governance of religious diversity and the inclusion of spiritual interventions in hospital settings, using data collected in the research project RESPIRO (breath) (2019–2022). Importantly, in this arti…
Spiritualities of the Body
Modern postural yoga, a body-mind practice developed in the last hundred and fifty years at the intersection of therapeutic, fitness and spiritual logics, is experiencing an unprecedented worldwide diffusion, including in Italy. This article, relying on discourse analysis of three yoga manuals and twenty-seven biographical interviews of yoga practitioners, aims at exploring yoga's positioning in the Italian context, with particular attention paid…
A Preliminary Genealogy of Yoga in Italy
In this article, we design a preliminary genealogy of yoga in Italy, showing its positioning within the growing field of "contemporary spiritualities", their premodern, esoteric and theosophical roots and Catholicism. Our main claim is that yoga and contemporary spiritualities as practiced in XXI-century Italy are neither entirely new nor are they clearly an alternative to more established religions. We rely on the methods and tools of a "discurs…
Ageing well
The Medicalization of the Sacred and the Sacralization of Care
The study of the relationships among religion, spirituality and medicine is an important and expanding field of study, especially in the light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, which stressed the need to support health care professionals, patients and their families in a time of exceptional social, healthcare and psychological disruption [...]
Religious Freedom, Governance of Religious Diversity, and Interreligious Dialogue
Religious freedom, the management of religious diversity, and interreligious dialogue are emerging and closely interconnected phenomena. In the context of increasing religious pluralism, policymakers, religious institutions, and other civil society actors and organizations face challenges, particularly as they strive to legitimize their religious, social, and legal positions in contemporary societies. Drawing on 47 interviews with policymakers (N…
Multiple habitus
This article introduces the idea of multiple habitus , a heuristic tool for analyzing the transmission, incorporation and social reproduction of religious teachings within a continuously transforming spiritual field. Drawing on data from the project ‘Buddhism in Italy’ we show how Italian Buddhism articulates a plurality of “core dispositions” that display notable congruence across major Buddhist traditions while simultaneously reflecting the loc…
The ‘Body at a distance
This article shows that the progressive online transposition of yoga teaching has exacerbated tensions and ambivalences inherent in the processes of inclusion, dissemination and consumption of contemporary yoga with regard to three pivotal and interwoven aspects where practitioners’ bodies are crucial: the verbal instructions used by teachers, which in online pedagogies become the primary means of transmission of specific ‘body techniques’ and fo…
After the Buddha
In this article, based on a selection of 267 semi-structured personal interviews with Buddhist practitioners conducted for the project “Buddhism in Italy” (2022–2023), we investigate the present state of Buddhism in Italy, accounting for its plural, hybrid, and global ethos. We enquire into the ways in which the three main forms of legitimate domination classically theorized by Max Weber—‘legal’ or ‘rational’, ‘traditional’, and ‘charismatic’—inf…
Buddhist therapeutics’
Despite ‘new’ and ‘alternative’ religious and spiritual movements centred on health and wellbeing have gained international significance, cultural analysis of the overlapping logics of religion and health in contemporary forms of Buddhism is a substantially unexplored, although sociologically promising, object of study. Relying on empirical research conducted within the Project ‘Buddhism in Italy’ and on a close analysis of the literature on Budd…
Sociology (15 works) · Political science (11 works) · Aesthetics (9 works) · Law (9 works) · Philosophy (9 works) · Spirituality (9 works) · Epistemology (8 works) · Social science (8 works) · Anthropology (7 works) · Indian and Buddhist Studies (7 works)