Sects, Cults and New Religions Contributor(s): Cusack, Carole (Editor), Kirby, Danielle (Editor) |
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ISBN: 0415320291 ISBN-13: 9780415320290 Publisher: Routledge
Binding Type: Hardcover - See All Available Formats & Editions Published: October 2013 Click for more in this series: Critical Concepts in Sociology |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Religion - Social Science | Sociology Of Religion - Reference |
Dewey: 306.6 |
LCCN: 2013022953 |
Series: Critical Concepts in Sociology |
Physical Information: 1584 pages |
Features: Bibliography, Index |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: New Religious Movements (NRMs) came into being as a distinct subfield of academic study in the 1970s in response to the explosion of non-traditional religions that took place in the waning years of the Sixties counterculture. (The designation 'New Religion' is a direct translation of a Japanese term coined for the many new religions that emerged in the wake of the Second World War, and was adopted by Western scholars in the late Sixties/early Seventies in preference to the pejorative term 'cult'.) These movements, and those termed 'sects' and 'cults', initially attracted the attention of American and European sociologists of religion because of the controversy that arose in response to their expansion. Religious Studies, which at the time was still in the process of establishing itself as a legitimate discipline distinct from Theology and traditional Biblical Studies, was only too happy to leave NRMs to Sociology. This situation gradually changed, however, so that at present at least as many scholars of NRMs come from Religious Studies backgrounds as come from the social sciences. The collection consists of four volumes which together provide a one-stop source for crucial information on--and theoretical/methodological approaches to--contemporary New Religions. The set brings together thinking on a wide variety of themes associated with NRMs (e.g. apocalypticism, typologies, conversion, gender) and major works on the NRMs that have attracted the most scholarly attention (e.g. the 'Moonies', The Family International, Osho Rajneesh). Some influential 'anti-cult' articles (normally not considered part of mainstream scholarship) have also been included as well. Sects, Cults, and New Religions is fully indexed and includes a comprehensive introduction, newly written by the editor, and is destined to be valued as a vital research resource. |
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