Zwischen Selbstermächtigung und Unterwerfung Rituelle Praxis als Machtfaktor in spätmoderner Zeit

Abstract

Over the last decades we have witnessed a significant change in rituals and ritual practices across western societies. This article analyses the emancipatory as well as hegemonic background of present forms and transformations of current ritual action complexes to investigate questions of power and powerlessness. Exemplary observations are made in religious (baptism in church) as well as secular contexts (ritual fasting and ascesis).
At first glance, these practices contain elements of self-empowerment and emancipation from religious and institutional structures. However, a deeper analysis of motives and contexts of ritual actions reveals that the pursuit of self-empowerment is embedded in mechanisms of collective submission manifested in the construction of meaning through rituals. The liberation process of ritual actions has made strides over the last few decades but still also has a long way to go in western societies.