organisations - new age movements Flashcards
(27 cards)
What are the two explanations of NAM’s/Cults?
- Heelas
- Bruce - 5 Main Features
What definition of NAM’s does Heelas give in his explanation for them?
A range of beliefs and activities that have been widespread since the 1980s.
What did Heelas say about NAM’s in the UK in his explanation for them.
He estimated that there are about 2000 such activities and 146,000 practitioners in the UK. Most are loosely organised client cults, that are extremely diverse and eclectic.
What are some examples that Heelas gives in his explanation of NAM’s?
UFOs, aliens, astrology, tarot, crystals, alternative medicine, psychotherapy, yoga meditation, magic
In Heelas explanation of NAM’s, what are the two common themes that characterise them?
- Self-Spirituality
- Detraditionalisation
What is Self-Spirituality as a theme that characterises NAM’s?
New Agers seeking spirituality have turned away from traditional ‘external’ religions (churches) and look inside themselves to find it.
What is Detraditionalisation as a theme that characterises NAM’s?
Reject the spiritual authority of external, traditional sources e.g. priests/sacred texts. Values personal experience, believes that we can discover the truth for ourselves, within ourselves.
What is an evaluation of Heelas explanation of NAM’s?
Glendinning and Bruce - although people experimented with them, commitment to these beliefs and practices was very rare. Even in those who described themselves as ‘spiritual’ very few said that these practices were important to their lives
In Bruces’s explanation of NAM’s, what does he say are their five main features?
- emphasis on self and the self-within
- holistic approach
- no higher authority than the self
- global cafeteria
- therapeutic
What is the Holistic Approach feature of a NAM according to Bruce?
The mind, body and spirit are all connected as individuals are connected to the environment and supernatural.
According to Bruce’s explanation of NAM’s, which main feature is that the mind, body and spirit are all connected as individuals are connected to the environment and supernatural?
Holistic Approach
What is the No Higher Authority than the Self feature of a NAM according to Bruce?
There is no single truth, individuals are free to believe what they want. This emphasis on freedom/rejection of authority being in traditional hands shows how NAM’s act as an agent of detraditionalisation.
According to Bruce’s explanation of NAM’s, which main feature is that there is no single truth, individuals are free to believe what they want?
No Higher Authority than the Self
What is the Global Cafeteria feature of a NAM according to Bruce?
There’s a vast range of beliefs and practices drawn from across the globe, members are free to pick and choose.
According to Bruce’s explanation of NAM’s, which main feature is that there’s a vast range of beliefs and practices drawn from across the globe, members are free to pick and choose?
Global Cafeteria
What is the Therapeutic feature of a NAM according to Bruce?
The aim is to make members more successful, happier and healthier
According to Bruce’s explanation of NAM’s, which main feature is that the aim is to make members more successful, happier and healthier?
Therapeutic
What is an evaluation of Bruce’s explanation of NAM’s?
Bruce - the movement is for too ‘individualistic’, therefore insignificant on society. When looking at features of a religion, it was clear that there were problems trying to define religion, similarly hard to define NAM’s as one
What are the four reasons why people join NAM’s/Cults?
- Individualism (Giddens)
- Decline in Status of Science (Heelas)
- Decline of Traditional Churches
- Rise of Consumerism (Heelas)
Why do people join NAM’s because of individualism?
Giddens - society has become more focused around the individual, people are reflecting upon the available options and choices. Therefore individuals are increasingly choosing their own identity and NAM’s help them find themselves.
What is an evaluation of Giddens’s Individualism theory of why people join NAM’s?
Bruce - weak religion (watered down version of faith)
Why do people join NAM’s because of a decline in status of science?
Heelas - its failure to provide solutions to problems (e.g. ill-health/poverty) people become uncertain, NAM’s offer an alternative belief system (remedies). Decline in grand narratives = free to pick their own ways of understanding of health and spirituality
What is an evaluation of Heelas’s decline in status of science theory of why people join NAM’s?
Malinowski - people still turn to religion (covid-19 spike in internet downloads of the bible)
Why do people join NAM’s because of a decline of traditional churches?
People turn to new explanations to make sense and fill the vacuum of meaning, trad churches are seen as outdated - lacking on spirituality that New Ager’s crave. Multiplicity of roles in a modern society easy to lose identity and have no ‘real self’ - NAM’s help them cope with these multiple roles.
