Abstract

BORDES, Mariana. What are we talking about when we talk about energy? New therapeutic cultures from a sociology of knowledge approach. Cultura representaciones soc [online]. 2018, vol.13, n.25, pp.103-139. ISSN 2007-8110.  https://doi.org/10.28965/2018-25-04.

This research paper explores the multiple ways in which social actors interpret and make use of a notion that, within the framework of different research in the field of social sciences, has been registered as one of the most widespread beliefs in the Argentinean and Latin American population: “energy”. From a sociology of knowledge approach, and in dialogue with other academic works that discuss and analyze the transactions of meaning existing between different interpretive frameworks, this paper offers a classification of energy that focuses on three significant vectors: a) energy as a metaphysical category, b) energy as a moral category and c) energy as a scientific category. Within this framework, it is emphasized that, as a category of knowledge, the strength of the term “energy” is given by its versatility in the task of endowing meaning on dissimilar realities, by virtue of its capacity to be invested with multiple meanings. The article is based on research, from a qualitative and interpretative approach, in which in-depth interviews were carried out with users and specialists of a particular therapy: foot reflexology.

Keywords : sociology of knowledge; meaning transactions; energy.