Witches and plants: alliances, rituals and biopolitical rebellion?

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5380/dma.v62i0.82025

Keywords:

agency, health, neomaterialism, territorialisation, women

Abstract

This article explores the significance of interactions between people and plants in understanding contemporary territorial socio-material experiences. By experimenting with a post-cognitive and actor-oriented approach, we acknowledge the processes of self-organization and semi-autonomous territorial existences. Through an extended ethnographic case study, we uncover the alliance between women and medicinal plants in South Brazil. The processes of individualization, singularization, and entanglement of socio-material practices enable the study of the Witches of God and their home apothecaries. The preparation, use, and distribution of remedies contribute to the reterritorialization of healthcare. Consequently, we suggest that certain rural areas in Brazil give rise to liminal spaces characterized by biopolitical rebellion, which challenge the privatization of life. The collapse of boundaries between biological, political, and non-political aspects in territorial life, along with the resulting disruptive embodiments, reveal new transindividual configurations that extend beyond the confines of the family sphere.

Author Biographies

Flávia Charão-Marques, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS

Doutora em Desenvolviento Rural, Professora Associada, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Desenvolvimento Rural, Coordenadora do Grupo de Pesquisa Inovação, Sociedade e Eco-territorialidades, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul.

Alberto Arce, Wageningen University & Research (WUR), Wageningen, Gelderland. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS

PhD Sociology, Professor Emérito, Sociology of Development and Change Group, Wageningen University; Professor Visitante, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Desenvolvimento Rural, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul.

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Published

2023-10-07

How to Cite

Charão-Marques, F., & Arce, A. (2023). Witches and plants: alliances, rituals and biopolitical rebellion?. Desenvolvimento E Meio Ambiente, 62. https://doi.org/10.5380/dma.v62i0.82025

Issue

Vol. 62 (2023): Psychoanalysis, philosophy and political ecology - Water, Sanitation and SDGs in Brazil: challenges, contradictions and governance

Section

Articles

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