| Sumario: | This paper investigates spirit (būta) worship in a special economic zone (SEZ) in India by considering practices of care around specific constellations of nature and infrastructure: fluid, contingent assemblages of the ‘natural’ and ‘artificial’ environments. Occult phenomena in modern settings have often been interpreted as metaphorical critiques of modernity by neophyte proletarians. In the SEZ, however, it is not workers but executives who undertake the primary role inbūtarituals. In addition, the rituals’ main aim is towards not division but connection among modern technology, nature, and divinities. The SEZ management assumes the role of primary caretaker of an assemblage which constitutes both industrial plants and spiritual landmarks. The rituals enable the people to manage the entanglements of infrastructure with spirits and nature, which are not only modern but also untamed and divine. In the process of caring for these entanglements, people experiment with novel ontological arrangements.
|
|---|