RSGSS Special Presentation by Dr Patrick McCartney
This presentation, titled: Yoga Fundamentalism: Decolonising Yogaland, missiological allyship, and pan-global Hindu supremacy occurred at the Religious Studies Graduate Student Society Symposium during April 2019 at the University of Alberta, Canada.
In this episode, Dr Patrick McCartney asks: what implicit ethno-nationalist-laden victuals exist within the global consumption-scape of Yogaland? The floating signifiers of 'yoga' and 'Vedic,' particularly, enable seemingly incommensurable social worlds to form unlikely alliances through independently assigning meaning to these empty signs. This paper outlines the mechanics of this process through articulating the various affective rhetorical appeals that couple with the universalising principle; which consists of: a neo-romantic ethic, a nostalgic cosmopolitan mood, and a neo-pagan/deep eco-theology. This acts as a solvent rendering the semantic and political boundaries, porous. What, then, are the unintended consequences of this commensalism? By articulating how self-proclaimed decolonisers of yoga buffer criticism of Hindu nationalism camouflaged by political correctness, we gain clarity in understanding how the decolonisation process exculpates 'yoga fundamentalists' of their perceived privilege, guilt, and appropriation; however, it often results in being groomed to help normalise the political theology of Hindutva.
Affiliations:
JSPS Fellow - Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Research Associate - Nanzan University Anthropological Institute, Nagoya, Japan
Research Affiliate - Organization for Identity and Cultural Development, Kyoto, Japan
Visiting Fellow - South and South-east Asian Studies Department & Member - South Asia Research Institute, School of Culture, History and Language, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
You can find more information about the Yogascapes in Japan project: yogascapesinjapan.com
Follow us on social media accounts:
https://twitter.com/yogascapesinjap
https://www.instagram.com/yogascapesinjapan
http://www.facebook.com/yogascapesinjapan
Produced by: @tattooedyogini_ and https://twitter.com/psdmccartney
Music by Scott Holmes: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Scott_Holmes/
University of Alberta - Faculty of Arts
https://www.ualberta.ca/arts/events/ois/50n1ud0d508i2jc76dasn572sr
In this episode, Dr Patrick McCartney asks: what implicit ethno-nationalist-laden victuals exist within the global consumption-scape of Yogaland? The floating signifiers of 'yoga' and 'Vedic,' particularly, enable seemingly incommensurable social worlds to form unlikely alliances through independently assigning meaning to these empty signs. This paper outlines the mechanics of this process through articulating the various affective rhetorical appeals that couple with the universalising principle; which consists of: a neo-romantic ethic, a nostalgic cosmopolitan mood, and a neo-pagan/deep eco-theology. This acts as a solvent rendering the semantic and political boundaries, porous. What, then, are the unintended consequences of this commensalism? By articulating how self-proclaimed decolonisers of yoga buffer criticism of Hindu nationalism camouflaged by political correctness, we gain clarity in understanding how the decolonisation process exculpates 'yoga fundamentalists' of their perceived privilege, guilt, and appropriation; however, it often results in being groomed to help normalise the political theology of Hindutva.
Affiliations:
JSPS Fellow - Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Research Associate - Nanzan University Anthropological Institute, Nagoya, Japan
Research Affiliate - Organization for Identity and Cultural Development, Kyoto, Japan
Visiting Fellow - South and South-east Asian Studies Department & Member - South Asia Research Institute, School of Culture, History and Language, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
You can find more information about the Yogascapes in Japan project: yogascapesinjapan.com
Follow us on social media accounts:
https://twitter.com/yogascapesinjap
https://www.instagram.com/yogascapesinjapan
http://www.facebook.com/yogascapesinjapan
Produced by: @tattooedyogini_ and https://twitter.com/psdmccartney
Music by Scott Holmes: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Scott_Holmes/
University of Alberta - Faculty of Arts
https://www.ualberta.ca/arts/events/ois/50n1ud0d508i2jc76dasn572sr
4th INTERNATIONAL DAY OF YOGA 2018, kobe, Japan
We made a short 2-minute film from our day out in Kobe at the 4th International Day of Yoga 2018 event.
1500 people partook in a group yoga class. That's 500 more than last year! There was music, dancing, a small market, and other smaller classes throughout the day. 60 volunteers helped make the event successful. Enjoy!
Music: "Happy Whistle" by Scott Holmes
1500 people partook in a group yoga class. That's 500 more than last year! There was music, dancing, a small market, and other smaller classes throughout the day. 60 volunteers helped make the event successful. Enjoy!
Music: "Happy Whistle" by Scott Holmes
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OSAKA CASTLE Park yoga day 2018
On April 17, 2018 at Osaka Castle Park there was a community event related to the 4th International Day of Yoga. Unfortunately, we missed a lot of it because the park around the castle is so damn big, we got lost. By the time we got there, the participants were already in the shade meditating. When we got our cameras out to record, they had all moved into the middle of the oval to celebrate coming together through yoga. So, this is what you see, a couple of concentric rings of people hugging and high-fiving each other. Still, it looked like a lot of fun. We aim next year not to be late!
Here is the link to the event.
Music: "Our Big Adventure" by Scott Holmes
Here is the link to the event.
Music: "Our Big Adventure" by Scott Holmes
YOga in the park, kyoto, 2018
In early April, we went down to the Yoga in the Park event. We got the timings wrong and arrived too late to catch the bigger yoga class. Oops. But, what we have captured is the smaller classes that happened after the main event. So, there actually were a bunch more people. Hundreds, in fact. We won't sleep in next year. Promise!
Music: "Clap Your Hands" by Scott Holmes
Music: "Clap Your Hands" by Scott Holmes
Yoga day marche june 2018
This was a fun day of live music, kirtan, percussion, good organic, vegetarian food, community, many yoga classes, and good times. We didn't know what to expect, and were only going to stay an hour or two; but, we ended up staying much longer, and look forward to the the next Marche!
nada / Bhakti yoga teacher training course with daphne tse @ tamisa yoga, kyoto
This is a short film about the last afternoon of Daphne Tse's Bhakti/Nada Yoga Teacher Training Course at Tamisa Yoga, Kyoto, Japan. I joined in to give a brief presentation about a cakra/Sanskrit workshop I sometimes run. Gumi Nakaguchi helped out Daphne playing the flute and Kamala Klebanov gave a wonderful presentation of her Odissi dance.
yoga, Run, Zen
This 3-min short film documents the yoga event we experienced in the blazing sun of mid July, 2018 in Wazuka, Japan. Wazukanayoga organised a day of yoga in the park, a nice walk through the village to a temple, and a chance to meet with the local monk, drink different types of tea, and have an introduction to Zen meditation. The night before, we also went with Misako to the local sento (bathhouse). It was a delightful weekend away from Kyoto. Perhaps, it was slightly cooler amongst rice fields. At least, it was certainly tranquil.
Filmed and Produced by @tattooedyogini_ and @psdmccartney
#HoneypuffProductions @yogascapesinjapan @yogascapesinjap
Music: https://soundcloud.com/golden-dawn-2/vajra-guru-mantra
Creative Commons License
This work by themindorchestra is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
Filmed and Produced by @tattooedyogini_ and @psdmccartney
#HoneypuffProductions @yogascapesinjapan @yogascapesinjap
Music: https://soundcloud.com/golden-dawn-2/vajra-guru-mantra
Creative Commons License
This work by themindorchestra is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
