Ecological Worldviews: Animism

Animism refers to a wide range of worldviews that envisage the world as composed of persons, both human and other-than-human. Derived from the Latin word anima, which means “spirit, breath, or life,” Animism holds that the world beyond humans is imbued with spirit and agency. In contrast to the dominant modern assumption that personhood is an exclusively human trait, Animism—often rooted in Indigenous and millennia-old spiritual lifeways—views the world not as inert matter but alive, relational, and communicative. Cultures grounded in Animistic perspectives are often at the forefront of transformational movements, including resistance to extractive industries and advocacy for the Rights of Nature.