Imperial Animism: The “Ambiguous and Fascinating Complicity”

This thesis explores animism as both a historical and contemporary phenomenon, tracing its evolution across cultural, political, and technological contexts. Specifically, it argues that animism continues to mediate the boundaries between human and non-human, the sovereign and the beast, by providing a system for interpreting symbolic representations of power. Far from being relegated to the realm of primitive belief, animism persists as a critical framework in understanding how societies respond to crises, construct authority, and make sense of their place within an interconnected world.