(Con)spirituality, Science and the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia: Material and Digital Practices
Summary: This project aims to investigate the nexus between (con)spirituality and science in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ward and Voas (2011) first coined the term ‘conspirituality’ to describe the merger of New Age spirituality and conspiracy theories. The project seeks to provide a deeper understanding of this phenomena, and the processes of radicalisation occurring within spiritual communities. It will also illuminate the internal diversities and complexities within these communities, that may indicate a lesser cohesion that the term ‘conspirituality’ implies. We therefore bracket the ‘con’ to signal the term’s potentially problematic nature. The project thereby investigates a wide spectrum of spiritual beliefs and practices that co-opt or critique scientific orthodoxy, including those that are non-controversial, those that may indeed be ‘cons’, and those that adhere to conspiracy theories. This project aims to interrogate the full spectrum of how Australian self-identified spiritual persons and groups engage with science in material