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Communitas, fluidunitas and healing at a post-secular pilgrimage tourism site

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  • Zhou, Peiling
  • Wang, Ke

Abstract

A global post-secular trend has led to more diverse pilgrimage practices in modern tourism. This has offered fresh insight into the theoretical dialogue between two widely discussed theories of healing in pilgrimage that are rarely explored together: therapeutic assemblage and communitas. Drawing on fieldwork at the Prince Temple in Southwest China, a shared site for both folk Buddhist and anime pilgrims, this study examines how spiritual diversity shapes the therapeutic process at pilgrimage tourism shrines. It conceptualizes fluidunitas—a dynamic, affectively diverse mode of interfaith connection—as an alternative mode for healing that emerges in the absence of inter-group communitas within post-secular pilgrimage sites. This reveals how spiritual coexistence, collective experience, and co-healing unfold in increasingly diverse and fluid religious landscapes.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhou, Peiling & Wang, Ke, 2026. "Communitas, fluidunitas and healing at a post-secular pilgrimage tourism site," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:anture:v:116:y:2026:i:c:s0160738325002117
    DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2025.104105
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    References listed on IDEAS

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