Neuro-plastic Shamanism? Towards a Political Ontology of Whiteness and the Psychedelic Zeitgeist

The paper argues that clinical psychedelic medicine today reproduces modern colonial whiteness, drawing on Elizabeth Povinelli's theory of late liberalism. It calls for placing contemporary plant medicine within broader discussions in cultural anthropology about political ontology and decoloniality, rather than treating psychedelic studies as a segregated academic area. By reinterpreting whiteness through the history of the psychedelic counterculture as a form of complex trauma, the work suggests new implications for decolonial praxis.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Abstract This paper argues for reorienting our investigation of the psychedelic zeitgeist towards the longitudinal history of psychedelia with a committed attention to its relationship to colonialism. It demonstrates that clinical psychedelic medicine appears to sustain the reproduction of modern colonial whiteness in line with Elizabeth Povinelli’s theorization of late liberalism. It also challenges the notion of a restricted or segregated academic area for psychedelic studies. Instead, it is imperative to place discussions of contemporary plant medicine in line with broader contemporary discussions in cultural anthropology around political ontology and decoloniality. This paper attempts to demonstrate that doing so may challenge our understanding of whiteness—reinterpreting it—by recourse to the history of the psychedelic counterculture, as a form of complex trauma, and thus potentially demonstrating new implications for decoloniality and its praxis.