ABSTRACT
This chapter is an attempt to advance an understanding of the statements of the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding the notion of spirituality and, at the same time, to reflect on the analytical force providing visibility to the idea in its capacity as a political device for population management. Via WHO minutes, official texts, transcripts of speeches, resolutions, and reports, I reflect upon ‘spirituality’ as enacted in the institution and especially as articulated alongside topics such as culture, religion, rights, and wellbeing. The chapter has two main sections. First, I explain some of the questions related to the analysis of spirituality in the social sciences of religion and justify why this text can contribute to such debate. Second, I dwell on the documents analyzed, presenting them from two axes of variation: the spirituality of Others and the spirituality of All. In the Conclusion, I outline a set of empirical consequences associated with formalizing spirituality as an element of health in the WHO. I also point to directions that new analytical investments about this topic could follow.
