The Not-So-New Religious Movements: Changes in ‘the Cult Scene’ over the Past Forty Years

Authors

  • Eileen Barker London School of Economics

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33356/temenos.48461

Keywords:

Cults, NRMs, New Religious Movements, Sects, Change, Denominationalisation

Abstract

New religious movements (NRMs) tend to exhibit certain characteristics that change with the arrival of second and subsequent generations. The paper explores some of the internally motivated revisions that may be due to demographic changes or disappointed expectations, and some of the changes brought about through the economic, political, technological, legal and cultural influences from the wider society. Although there are always exceptions, unqualified boundaries tend to become more porous and negotiable as the movements accommodate to the outside world and ‘denominationalise’. The paper ends with a brief description of some of the more general changes in ‘the cult scene’ over the past 40 years.

Author Biography

Eileen Barker, London School of Economics

Professor Emerita of Sociology with Special Reference to the Study of Religion

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Published

2015-01-07

How to Cite

Barker, E. (2015). The Not-So-New Religious Movements: Changes in ‘the Cult Scene’ over the Past Forty Years. Temenos - Nordic Journal for the Study of Religion, 50(2), 235–256. https://doi.org/10.33356/temenos.48461

Issue

Vol. 50 No. 2 (2014)

Section

Articles

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Copyright (c) 2015 Temenos - Nordic Journal of Comparative Religion

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