Secularism and Nonreligion (Aug 2021)

Reclaiming Enchantment: The Transformational Possibilities of Immanence

  • Lori G. Beaman

DOI
https://doi.org/10.5334/snr.149
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 1

Abstract

Read online

The notion of enchantment has been largely imagined as relating to religion, broadly defined, including magic, sorcery, and the transcendental. The idea that the world has largely become disenchanted has been associated with science, modernity, and rationality, among other things. Along with others such as William E. Connolly, Jason Ā. Josephson-Storm, and Jane Bennett, I challenge the dominant configuration and narrative of (dis)enchantment. Building on their work, I argue that a reclaimed notion of enchantment is pivotal for the reconceptualization of human/non-human animal relations and sustainable life on earth.