Networks, Entrepreneurship and Power in Contemporary Spirituality

Networks, Entrepreneurship and Power in Contemporary Spirituality offers an in-depth analysis of the social organisation of New Age spirituality. Drawing on empirical research in Norway, it considers: What organizing principles are at play? How is power and authority exerted? How do spiritual entrepreneurs, organisations, and individuals interact? And how does social interaction affect their identities, beliefs, and practices?

Many people who are involved in alternative spirituality regard themselves as spiritual individualists resistant to religious authority. At the same time, they do draw upon external resources. Exploring the role of media, mind-body-spirit fairs, events and their gatekeepers, the book shows how a few key actors hold considerable power; not only over the organized networks related to New Age spirituality, but also over the ideas, norms, tropes and practices that circulate in the field. The voices of individual freedom, creativity and antidogmatism are harmonized with countermelodies of power, control, and commodification. Beneath individualistic spirituality lies a deep structure with social institutions and organising forces.

Challenging some widespread stereotypes, this book highlights regulative forces and socially sanctioned modes of thinking and acting within the New Age movement. It will be of particular interest to scholars of contemporary spirituality and the sociology of religion.