White Utopias: The Religious Exoticism of Transformational Festivals

by Amanda J. Lucia

Transformational festivals, from Burning Man to Lightning in a Bottle, Bhakti Fest, and Wanderlust, are massive events that attract thousands of participants to sites around the world. In this groundbreaking book, Amanda J. Lucia shows how these festivals operate as religious institutions for “spiritual, but not religious” (SBNR) communities. Whereas previous research into SBNR practices and New Age religion has not addressed the predominantly white makeup of these communities, White Utopias examines the complicated, often contradictory relationships with race at these events, presenting an engrossing ethnography of SBNR practices. Lucia contends that participants create temporary utopias through their shared commitments to spiritual growth and human connection. But they also participate in religious exoticism by adopting Indigenous and Indic spiritualities, a practice that ultimately renders them exclusive, white utopias. Focusing on yoga’s role in disseminating SBNR values, Lucia offers new ways of comprehending transformational festivals as significant cultural phenomena.

Genres: Nonfiction, Religion, Anthropology

319 pages, Paperback

Published October 13, 2020

Reviews

[Michael Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book. I think it would’ve been good for the author to have taken into account the fact the ISKCON devotees are a preaching mission inspired by Prabhupad who rejected the label Hindu, was raised in a Protestant Scottish Highscool and was mentored by a guru named Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati who wanted him to preach in America. Furthermore, Bhaktivinoda Thakur made the comment that he wanted white people from America, Russia, and France to chant the Hare Krishna mantra. So the “white supremacy” theory is a bit strange, because it was the very Hindus themselves who wanted to spread Hinduism to white people. The colomialism white supremacy theory doesn’t exactly work, and neither does the white fragility explanation at the end. However, cultural appropriation is a fascinating topic, cultural representation, and the whitewashing of traditions, and how Westerners have no culture and thus need to appropriate from other cultures. These are all very fascinating ideas brought up by Amanda J. Lucia. It was a very intriguing and informative book.

[Bomi Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

just saying the author is a white woman who spends at least 30% of the book defending transformational festivals lol

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this woman’s experiences with these festivals and wrestling with the ideas of racism, capitalism, cultural appropriation in these spaces. It’s clear the love the author has for these spaces, but she does criticize them and this book goes through the conversations we should be having in these spaces about these spaces. It’s academic, and she gave a webinar for Yoga Alliance which is available on YouTube if you are unable to get the book.

As someone who has never been able to afford to attend one of these festivals, and reading as an outsider, learning about how yoga is positioned in these spaces is also worth noting.

[Simon Pringle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting and eye-opening! All the way through.

The only downside is the language is complexe and would be inaccessible to most people.