The Business Alchemist. A Study of performative economics of an esoteric community

This article analyses, from a sociological point of view, the relationship between the religious and economic dimensions of one of the most long-lived spiritual communities in Europe, the Damanhur Federation. It investigates this nexus, starting from the criticism of one of the most recent theoretical-analytical models in the study of the economics of intentional communities, that of the ‘good’ or ‘ethical’ economy. This model fuels the rhetoric according to which the economics of religious communities are ‘good’ to the extent to which they seek—inspired by the principles of reciprocity, sociability, solidarity and ideal, ethical, religious and/or ecological values—solutions to economic problems based on spiritual values. However, this thesis presupposes a one-way influence of religion on the economy in the sense that the latter is only a mere reflection of adherence to the proclaimed principles of a religious doctrine. I propose an antithesis which I consider sociologically more far-seeing: that of the ‘performative’ economy. In line with Victor Turner’s idea of ‘performance’, I argue that economic activity is not only driven or influenced by the ethical, moral, and spiritual values of the community, but it retroacts on, and modifies, them. I show not only that Damanhurians’ working life is guided by ethical and spiritual principles derived from their doctrine, but also that economic activity offers them learning opportunities which induce them to modify, re-adapt, and confer new meanings upon the community’s rules, including those concerning spirituality.