Contemplative Praxis and Politics

Contemplative Praxis and Politics brings together some of the most experienced and creative scholars and scholar-practitioners interweaving contemplative practice and radical politics to embody and envision better ways of being. Building on but going far beyond critiques of the individualistic commodification of mindfulness, contributors offer ways to engage in contemplative praxis—from meditation to indigenous prayer, yoga to ritual—in communal and life sustaining ways. Contemplative Praxis and Politics reminds us that transformative politics must be rooted in human depth and human depth must be expressed in justice. Living during a time in which, to quote James Baldwin, we cannot afford despair, this collection and the collective contemplation that forms it brings the hope that we always need. Essential reading.

Ann Gleig, Professor of Religion and Cultural Studies, University of Central Florida

Social and political analysis of the mindfulness movement has generally been critical of the potential of mindfulness to reinforce tacit norms, the political status quo, and regimes of self-care that uphold neoliberalism and corporate capitalism. But are there potentials for mindfulness—and the concepts and ethics surrounding it—to challenge norms and support more progressive political projects? Contemplative Praxis and Politics answers that question affirmatively with a diverse array of essays addressing the relationship between contemplative practices and education, activism, disability, colonialism, gender, and other issues. This volume expands the territory of humanistic research on contemplative practices and opens up new, provocative, and productive realms of inquiry.

David L. McMahan, Charles A. Dana Professor of Religious Studies, Franklin & Marshall College

This book is a call to radical wakefulness, showing how contemplative practices become political tools capable of disrupting colonial and neoliberal forces shaping our bodies, minds, and collective possibilities. Revealing how domination embeds itself in the nervous system, the contributors offer a roadmap of responsibility, liberation, and decolonial resurgence through collective, embodied contemplative praxis. These teachings remind us that contemplative work is not passive; it is active, relational, and necessary for building the collective freedom our ancestors envisioned—and our descendants deserve.

Michael Yellow Bird, Lee Wu Kee Ming Chair in Indigenous Social Work, University of Toronto