Unidentified Allies: Intersections of Feminist and Transpersonal Thought and Potential Contributions to Social Change

Abstract

Contemporary Western feminism and transpersonalism are kaleidoscopic, consisting of interlocking influences, yet the fields have developed in parallel rather than in tandem. Both schools of praxis developed during the climate of activism and social experimentation of the 1960s in the United States, and both share a non-pathological view of the human experience. This discussion suggests loci of synthesized theoretical constructs between the two disciplines as well as distinct concepts and practices in both disciplines that may serve the other. Ways in which a feminist-transpersonal perspective may catalyze social change on personal, regional, and global levels are proposed.

Zombie Perennialism: An Intelligent Design for Psychology? A Further Response to Taylor's Soft Perennialism

“…Hartelius spent developing more specific work that can contribute to the field modestly, pragmatically, and in socially engaged ways (cf. Brooks, 2010;Ferrer, 2011a;Friedman, 2015). In this process, transpersonal psychology requires active debate in order to progress, just as any other academic field.…”

Traditional Roots, History, and Evolution of the Transpersonal Perspective

“…Fundamental to this approach is the importance of moving beyond an egocentric concern with one's own individuation or personal spiritual development towards full participation with, commitment to, and responsibility for, other people, other species, and the world at large. Such relational, participatory thinking is exemplified in indigenous spiritualities (e.g., Harner, 1980;Kremer, 1998), feminist spirituality (e.g., Brooks, 2010;Chittister, 1998;Starhawk, 1999;Wright, 1995), transpersonal ecology (e.g., Fox, 1995Naess, 1973), relational spiritualities (e.g., Achterberg & Rothberg, 1998;Wade, 2004;Welwood, 1991), and Ferrer's (e.g., 2002and Ferrer's (e.g., , 2011Ferrer & Sherman, 2008) participatory vision (emancipation from self-centeredness, cocreative participation).…”

Women’s Studies and transformative politics: an Arab-Muslim perspective

“…How the absence of such relation could have affected the development and credibility of the programme would require a separate study backed by empirical data. It is true that historical and cultural specificity should be taken into consideration when undertaking a comparative analysis between Women's Studies in Jordan and those in other Western countries as pertaining to their links with women's movement; however, there remain some transpersonal outlooks and philosophies relevant to different endeavours (Brooks, 2010).…”