Ficto‐Primitive Capital
What Wellness Seekers Gain From Practicing Shamanism and Other Healing Traditions
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19213624 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Catherine D Tan (0000-0002-0027-7742, Vassar College, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-11 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | British Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-1315 • E-ISSN: 1468-4446 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/1468-4446.70119 |
| PMID | 41964340 |
| OpenAlex | W7153521468 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 45 |
Behind its worldly and socially conscious aesthetic, the wellness industry serves the health and fitness interests of North American and European consumers by commercializing non-Western and Indigenous healing traditions, including shamanistic practices. Explored in this paper, "American shamans" seek to heal a range of maladies by collecting traditions found outside of their own cultural heritage, from ceremonies of the Q'ero people in the Andes to those of the Sámi in Scandinavia. As part of an ethnographic study, this paper draws from participant observation and a sample of 41 interviews with self-identified shamanic and spiritual healers across the United States. I introduce ficto-primitive capital to describe the status pursued by individuals who cultivate practices, objects, and relationships associated with communities they imagine as being pre-modern and pre-industrial. American shamans accrue ficto-primitive capital in effort to escape problems they associate with Western modernity: loss of community, feelings of isolation, and lack of cultural substance. Ironically, despite having purported respect for the communities that inspire their healing methods, American shamans become agents of cultural imperialism and exploit global inequalities. Ficto-primitive capital offers an account of why shamanic and other wellness practices are growing in popularity among Westerners
Capital (architecture) · Cultural capital · Ethnography · Feeling · Indigenous · Popularity · Seekers · Shamanism · Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights · Paranormal Experiences and Beliefs · Psychedelics and Drug Studies
Decolonize Self-Care
Self-Tracking
The cultural evolution of shamanism
Indigenous Genocide and Reanimation, Settler Apocalypse and Hope
Biocolonialism and Indigenous Knowledge in United Nations Discourse
The ‘gender puzzle’ of alternative medicine and holistic spirituality
Misappropriation of Indigenous Cultural Heritage – Intellectual Property Rights in the Digital Era
Racial Plagiarism and Fashion
Rolling our eyes towards god
Alt. Health Influencers
Ethnic Options
Randomized Controlled Crime
Filter Bubbles, Echo Chambers, and Fake News
Do-it-yourself
In pursuit of health
Plastic Shamans and Astroturf Sun Dances
Individualist Religious Movements
You probably have a parasite
Shamanism, Colonialism, and the Wild Man
Cultural Health Capital
Medicalization and Social Control
The Globalization of Ayahuasca Shamanism and the Erasure of Indigenous Shamanism
Medical Tourism in the Backcountry
Color Capital, White Debt, and the Paradox of Strong White Racial Identities
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |