‘Laboratories’ of Gender? Masculinities, Spirituality and New Religious Movements in Late Twentieth-Century Britain

2013 ◽  
pp. 279-300
Author(s):  
Stephen Hunt
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Late Twentieth ◽  
Late Twentieth Century

What are the New Religious Movements Doing in a Secular Society?

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan R. Wilson ◽  
Eileen Barker
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Science Fiction ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
New Jerusalem ◽  
New Religions ◽  
Protestant Christianity ◽  
Late Twentieth ◽  
Secular Society

This chapter discusses one of the major social changes that have taken place in late twentieth-century Britain — secularisation — the process whereby religion loses its social significance. In the second half of the twentieth century there was a major decline in Britain in formal church membership and attendance, although the decline in religious belief is less well established. The chapter also discusses the emergence of new religions in the secular society. They derive from a wide variety of sources: some such as the Jesus Army from the Baptist tradition of Protestant Christianity, others such as the New Jerusalem claim to represent the true Orthodox tradition; many others have a non-Christian character, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and the Brahma Kumaris have their roots in Hinduism, while Buddhism has given rise to Soka Gakkai and Shinto to Konkokyo; and also Paganism, Wicca, Satanism and traditions deriving from science fiction. The most important point to be made about these new religious movements is that because of their diversity, any generalisation concerning them can almost certainly be shown to be untrue for one or another of their number.

New Religious Movements

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Hanretta
Keyword(s):  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Spiritual Guidance ◽  
Recent Past ◽  
Religious Knowledge ◽  
Territorial Expansion ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Late Twentieth ◽  
Late Twentieth Century

The late twentieth century saw the rise of new forms of religiosity and a growing consensus about the utility of the concept of ‘religion’ to describe a wide range of beliefs and practices. The idea that Africa was perpetually in need of modernization and socio-economic ‘development’ influenced the theological and practical evolution of Christianity, Islam, and various ‘indigenous’ spiritual traditions. Pentecostalism and reformist Islam shared a turn towards the personalization of spiritual quests and a sense of rupture with the recent past. New movements attacked existing institutions, paths to religious knowledge and authority, and the perceived routinization of spiritual guidance. New patterns of connection between Africa and the rest of the world produced complex mixings and inventions separate from the movement of peoples or the territorial expansion of empires. Further research is needed into the links between the political and financial institutions shaping recent forms of globalization and the intellectual and social content of new religious movements.

Nine Centuries of Man

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Gender Expectations ◽  
Court Records ◽  
The Past ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Police Reports ◽  
Late Twentieth ◽  
Scottish History ◽  
Late Twentieth Century

What did it mean to be a man in Scotland over the past nine centuries? Scotland, with its stereotypes of the kilted warrior and the industrial ‘hard man’, has long been characterised in masculine terms, but there has been little historical exploration of masculinity in a wider context. This interdisciplinary collection examines a diverse range of the multiple and changing forms of masculinities from the late eleventh to the late twentieth century, exploring the ways in which Scottish society through the ages defined expectations for men and their behaviour. How men reacted to those expectations is examined through sources such as documentary materials, medieval seals, romances, poetry, begging letters, police reports and court records, charity records, oral histories and personal correspondence. Focusing upon the wide range of activities and roles undertaken by men – work, fatherhood and play, violence and war, sex and commerce – the book also illustrates the range of masculinities that affected or were internalised by men. Together, the chapters illustrate some of the ways Scotland’s gender expectations have changed over the centuries and how, more generally, masculinities have informed the path of Scottish history

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document