Sidney Castillo – Whitten Research Fund 2021

Sidney CastilloSidney Castillo

Winner of the Norm and Sibby Whitten Research Fund 2021

 

Becoming through plants: Ayahuasca rituals and ethical self-making among the indigenous peoples of northeastern Peru 

My objective is to study the role of ayahuasca rituals in the formation of ethical subjectivities, i.e., how people learn what to consider “good to be”, or “ought to do” in a particular context, and further, examine how these subjectivities are related to local notions of wellbeing. In the rainforest of Peru, I will use multi-sited ethnography for elaborating on the meanings and motivations that lead people in indigenous contexts to take part in ayahuasca rituals, and how the indigenous perspective is negotiated in different social settings for purposes of ethical self-making.

About Sidney Castillo

Sidney Castillo is Doctoral researcher from the University of Helsinki. He was granted 650 USD