Category formation and the history of "NewAge"
Based on theories of category formation (Baird) and genealogy (Foucault and Asad), and writing myself reflexively into the field, I question the consensus view that there is (or ever was) a viable social or religious "movement" called "New Age". Through a brief review of secondar...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic/Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis
2003
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| In: |
Culture and religion
Year: 2003, Volume: 4, Issue: 1, Pages: 5-29 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
New Age
/ Concept of
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| RelBib Classification: | AZ New religious movements |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | Based on theories of category formation (Baird) and genealogy (Foucault and Asad), and writing myself reflexively into the field, I question the consensus view that there is (or ever was) a viable social or religious "movement" called "New Age". Through a brief review of secondary sources, I disaggregate and historicise the field, drawing attention to signs of incompleteness, heterogeneity and cultural diffusion in preference to the dominant argument for a sui generis phenomenon. Within the field, I trace connections between Alice Bailey's discourse and Findhorn colony practice to illustrate one particular "New Age" genealogy. I argue that "New Age" is better represented as an expression of contemporary Anglo-American "popular religion", a (re)conceptualisation that encourages more fruitful comparative historical and ethnographical analyses. Finally, I identify an emergent "second wave" of "New Age" studies, characterised by a concern for localised and contextualised representations. |
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| ISSN: | 1475-5610 |
| Contains: | In: Culture and religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/01438300302814 |