Natura, sé e spiritualità nei movimenti Humanist

This chapter investigates how spirituality is discursively constructed and practiced within secular Humanist movements across different European contexts. Drawing on empirical data from two research projects—RE-Green and WhoSGreen—conducted in the United Kingdom, Italy, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary, the study addresses a significant gap in the sociological literature on Humanism, which has largely relied on theoretical and insider accounts rather than empirical research. Using Dorothy Smith’s institutional ethnography as an alternative sociological approach, the research explores how texts, organizational discourses, and everyday practices shape the lived experiences of Humanist families, particularly in relation to spirituality and the intergenerational transmission of values.
The findings reveal a substantial absence of explicit references to spirituality in official Humanist organizational texts and websites. However, interviews and participant observation uncover a wide spectrum of spiritual understandings and practices among affiliates. While supernatural beliefs are generally rejected, many participants articulate forms of “secular spirituality” grounded in naturalism, inner reflection, emotional experience, and connection with nature. Spirituality is variously described as a personal journey of discovery (sometimes informed by scientific curiosity), a practice of mindfulness and meditation, an aesthetic and emotional response to nature, or a sense of belonging to a larger interconnected universe. In the Romanian case, by contrast, interviewees reported a complete absence of spiritual self-identification, highlighting the importance of socio-cultural context.
The analysis suggests that Humanist spirituality is predominantly individualized, shaped through biographical “do-it-yourself” pathways rather than institutional guidance, and only partially recognized as legitimate within Humanist organizations. Intergenerational transmission of spiritual dispositions occurs mainly through dialogue and experiential learning within families, resembling forms of cultural and spiritual capital that may remain contested within Humanist institutional frameworks.
The chapter contributes to the sociology of secularism and spirituality by offering an empirically grounded, context-sensitive account of “secular spiritualities” within Humanist movements and by demonstrating the analytical value of Institutional Ethnography for examining the complex interplay between organizational texts, everyday life, identity formation, and value transmission.