Matthew Wood

Possession, Power and the New Age (eBook, ePUB)

Ambiguities of Authority in Neoliberal Societies

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

This book provides a new sociological account of contemporary religious phenomena such as channelling, holistic healing, meditation and divination, which are usually classed as part of a New Age Movement. Drawing on his extensive ethnography carried out in the UK, alongside comparative studies in America and Europe, Matthew Wood criticises the view that such phenomena represent spirituality in which self-authority is paramount. Instead, he emphasises the role of social authority and the centrality of spirit possession, linking these to participants' class positions and experiences of secularisation. Informed by sociological and anthropological approaches to social power and practice, especially the work of Pierre Bourdieu and Michel Foucault, Wood's study explores what he calls the nonformative regions of the religious field, and charts similarities and differences with pagan, spiritualist and Theosophical traditions.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Taylor & Francis
• Seitenzahl: 212
• Erscheinungstermin: 8. April 2016
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781317077589
• Artikelnr.: 44876547

Autorenporträt

Matthew Wood is Lecturer in Sociology in the School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work at Queen's University Belfast, UK.

Inhaltsangabe

Chapter 1 Approaching New Age
Chapter 2 The field of New Age studies
Chapter 3 Power, self and practice
Chapter 4 The meditation group
Chapter 5 Channelling workshops
Chapter 6 The Nottinghamshire fair
Chapter 7 Spiritualism and paganism
Chapter 8 Nonformativeness, possession and class in neoliberal societies