Aled Thomas - Böcker
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5 produkter
5 produkter
1 343 kr
Skickas inom 10-15 vardagar
In this novel academic study, Aled Thomas analyses modern issues surrounding boundaries and fluidity in contemporary Scientology. By using the Scientologist practice of ‘auditing’ as a case study, this book explores the ways in which new types of ‘Scientologies’ can emerge. The notion of Free Zone Scientology is characterised by its horizontal structure, in contrast to the vertical-hierarchy of the institutional Church of Scientology. With this in mind, Thomas explores the Free Zone as an example of a developing and fluid religion, directly addressing questions concerning authority, leadership and material objects.This book, by maintaining a double-focus on the top-down hierarchy of the Church of Scientology and the horizontal-fluid nature of the Free Zone, breaks away from previous research on new religions, which have tended to focus either on new religions as indices of broad social processes, such as secularization or globalization, or as exemplars of exotic processes, such as charismatic authority and brainwashing. Instead, Thomas adopts auditing as a method of providing an in-depth case study of a new religion in transition and transformation in the 21st century. This opens the study of contemporary and new religions to a series of new questions around hybrid religions (sacred and secular), and acts as a framework for the study of similar movements formed in recent decades.
434 kr
Skickas inom 10-15 vardagar
In this novel academic study, Aled Thomas analyses modern issues surrounding boundaries and fluidity in contemporary Scientology. By using the Scientologist practice of ‘auditing’ as a case study, this book explores the ways in which new types of ‘Scientologies’ can emerge. The notion of Free Zone Scientology is characterised by its horizontal structure, in contrast to the vertical-hierarchy of the institutional Church of Scientology. With this in mind, Thomas explores the Free Zone as an example of a developing and fluid religion, directly addressing questions concerning authority, leadership and material objects.This book, by maintaining a double-focus on the top-down hierarchy of the Church of Scientology and the horizontal-fluid nature of the Free Zone, breaks away from previous research on new religions, which have tended to focus either on new religions as indices of broad social processes, such as secularization or globalization, or as exemplars of exotic processes, such as charismatic authority and brainwashing. Instead, Thomas adopts auditing as a method of providing an in-depth case study of a new religion in transition and transformation in the 21st century. This opens the study of contemporary and new religions to a series of new questions around hybrid religions (sacred and secular), and acts as a framework for the study of similar movements formed in recent decades.
‘Cult’ Rhetoric in the 21st Century
Deconstructing the Study of New Religious Movements
Inbunden, Engelska, 2024
1 209 kr
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Examining contemporary understandings of the term ‘cult’, this book brings together scholars from multiple disciplines, including sociology, anthropology and religious studies. Focusing on how ‘cult rhetoric’ affects our perceptions of new religious movements, the contributors explore how these minority groups have developed and deconstruct the language we use to describe them.Ranging from the ‘Cult of Trump’ and ‘Cult of COVID’, to the campaigns of mass media, this book recognises that contemporary ‘cult rhetoric’ has become hybridised and suggests a more nuanced study of contemporary religion. Topics include online religions, political ‘cults’, ‘apostate’ testimony and the current ‘othered’ position of the study of minority religions.
‘Cult’ Rhetoric in the 21st Century
Deconstructing the Study of New Religious Movements
Häftad, Engelska, 2026
394 kr
Skickas inom 10-15 vardagar
Examining contemporary understandings of the term ‘cult’, this book brings together scholars from multiple disciplines, including sociology, anthropology and religious studies. Focusing on how ‘cult rhetoric’ affects our perceptions of new religious movements, the contributors explore how these minority groups have developed and deconstruct the language we use to describe them.Ranging from the ‘Cult of Trump’ and ‘Cult of COVID’, to the campaigns of mass media, this book recognises that contemporary ‘cult rhetoric’ has become hybridised and suggests a more nuanced study of contemporary religion. Topics include online religions, political ‘cults’, ‘apostate’ testimony and the current ‘othered’ position of the study of minority religions.
- Nyhet
1 406 kr
Kommande
This book serves as the first study of the Universal Church as a global institution and as the model of neo-Pentecostalism.Previously the subject of research in Brazil, where studies tend to focus solely on the political and ideological, David Lehmann instead balances these themes alongside the devotional and ritual. The book guides us through the church’s global infrastructure from Brazil and the rest of the world. Led by Edir Macedo, the UCKG comprises bishops, pastors and assistants, with groups like Caleb, Youth Victory, Godllywood, and Intellimen serving various demographics. Also explored is the church’s gendered system, such as the phenomenon of the childless ‘pastoral couple’, gendered self-improvement networks and the church’s messaging on relationships, ‘love therapy’ and even dating apps.Visiting 32 churches in 13 countries across Europe, North America, Spanish America, Brazil and even Israel, David reveals UCKG influence and reach, encapsulated by the church’s very own Temple of Solomon in São Paulo. This book features a plethora of ethnographic research from across these locations including extensive conversations with pastors, church members and assistants over several years. Also explored is the nature of the ritual and supernatural in neo-Pentecostalism, the church’s use of social media to spread its teachings, and a challenge to the secularization thesis, demonstrating the UCKG’s fusion of religious and secular domains.