From Cults to "Cobayes": New Religions as "Guinea Pigs" for Testing New Laws : The Case of the Buenos Aires Yoga School
A military-style police raid was launched on August 12, 2022, against the headquarters of a small metaphysical book club and spiritual school known as the Buenos Aires Yoga School (BAYS). BAYS members were arrested on charges of human trafficking, money laundering, and running a prostitute ring. Vid...
| Published in: | The journal of CESNUR |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
2023
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| In: |
The journal of CESNUR
Year: 2023, Volume: 7, Issue: 4, Pages: 3-24 |
| Further subjects: | B
Crime Control Theater
B Buenos Aires Yoga School B Abuse of Weakness B Brainwashing B Anti-cultis B Government Raids Against "Cults" B Human Trafficking |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | A military-style police raid was launched on August 12, 2022, against the headquarters of a small metaphysical book club and spiritual school known as the Buenos Aires Yoga School (BAYS). BAYS members were arrested on charges of human trafficking, money laundering, and running a prostitute ring. Videos of the raid and photographs of members with identifying information soon appeared in the media. This study argues that this unwarranted police raid, planned by PROTEX (Procuraduría para el Combate de la Trata y Explotación de Personas) and Argentina's leading anticult activist, Pablo Salum, fits the description of a "crime control theater," and that the heavy-handed use of brainwashing theory to brand and stigmatize the BAYS women as both prostitutes and "cultists" resembles strategies found in France's government-sponsored anticult movement to control "sectes" and their "gourous." Since both Argentina and France have passed new laws based on unprovable notions of "vulnerability," "control," and "abuse of weakness," imported from brainwashing theory, it is argued the application of these laws to members of NRMs is a subtle and facile step towards the erosion of democratic principles. This study, based on interviews with BAYS members and legal team, focuses on the negative results of the raid, which damaged the careers and livelihoods of the alleged "pimps" and putative "victims" alike. |
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| ISSN: | 2532-2990 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The journal of CESNUR
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.26338/tjoc.2023.7.4.1 |