Translated from our German original by AI. The German text was researched, written, and edited by the Psychedelia Foundation team and remains the authoritative version.
An international team of researchers is calling for a fundamental change of perspective in psychedelic research. In a recent paper, the authors propose replacing the widely used term “psychedelic renaissance” with the concept of a “confluence”. In their view, the renaissance framing does not do justice to the many cultural and historical roots of psychedelic practices.
The authors argue that the narrative of a “psychedelic renaissance” reproduces Eurocentric accounts of history and biomedical ways of thinking. This marginalizes indigenous knowledge systems as well as the social, ecological and intergenerational dimensions of psychedelic traditions. They also point to persistent conflicts in the field, among them questions of biomedicalization, commercialization, regulation and the continuing effects of colonial power relations.
As an alternative, the scientists introduce two interlinked concepts:
- “Lived Kinships” is meant to widen the view of research beyond the individual to the relationships between people and more-than-human actors and ecosystems.
- “Cosmic Diplomacy” describes a methodological and political approach intended to foster dialogue between different knowledge systems and to serve the preservation of planetary health.
In doing so, the researchers draw deliberately on indigenous cosmologies and bring the perspectives of thinkers such as Ailton Krenak, Davi Kopenawa, Nina Gualinga and the Quilombola philosopher Nêgo Bispo into scientific discourse.
Methodologically, the proposal rests on anthropological and decolonial research as well as ethnographic work in Amazonian and diasporic ayahuasca communities. Very recent political and social developments also feed into the argument, among them the declaration of the 5th Indigenous Ayahuasca Conference in Brazil (2025), the World Ayahuasca Forum scheduled in Spain for 2026 and the Nagoya Protocol of 2010.
In the authors’ view, psychedelic research must in future move away from Eurocentric concepts and orient itself towards relational, ecological and cross-cultural perspectives. The paradigm shift from “renaissance” to “confluence” is meant not only to protect biocultural diversity but also to offer a scientifically rigorous and politically urgent roadmap for future empirical research, governance and ethical investment.
