Graduation Year
2019
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
French Studies
Reader 1
Nathalie Rachlin
Reader 2
Emilie Carrigou-Kempton
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2019 Alexandra E Rivera
Abstract
Witches and pagans have long faced historical persecution from the Catholic church and other patriarchal systems of power. In the eyes of mainstream society, they have been reduced to fragments of ancient history and entertaining media stereotypes. Real practitioners of witchcraft and paganism have remained fairly marginalized and trapped in the shadows, but this is starting to change. Witches and pagans have begun to involve themselves in large-scale political movements, combining spiritual power with direct action. While this phenomenon has a longer track record in the United States, in France it is extremely new. France is a country that has an even deeper history of pagan origins and Inquisition witch trials, wih a currently conflicted religious dynamic of being both secular and Catholic. Therefore, the reclamation and practice of witchcraft within an activist setting has even more revolutionary significance. Because the basic tenets of most witch and pagan spiritualities emphasizes fighting oppression, witchcraft has attracted marginalized groups, especially the LGBT community. The occult offers valuable new ways of examining activism and social justice using spirituality and magic.
Recommended Citation
Rivera, Alexandra, "Conjurer la Révolution : Sorciers, Païens et Justice Sociale dans la France contemporaine" (2019). Scripps Senior Theses. 1376.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/1376
Included in
French and Francophone Language and Literature Commons, Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Other Religion Commons