Bloomsbury Companion to NRMs

Contents

Foreword by Massimo Introvigne

Introduction by the Editors
Definitional issues, the history and development of the field, theories and methods, ‘new’ and ‘old’ NRMs.

Part I: Research methods and problems
These short essays focus on issues such as particular subfields within NRM Studies, methodologies used for the study of these subtopics, major research problems and programmes associated with NRM Studies.

Fieldwork - Stephen Gregg (University of Wales Trinity St David, UK)
Insider/Outsider Problems - George D. Chryssides (University of Birmingham, UK)
Japanese NRMs - Birgit Staemmler (University of Tuebingen)
Material Culture - Alex Norman (University of Sydney)
Pagan Studies - Graham Harvey (The Open University, UK)
New Age - Steven Sutcliffe (University of Edinburgh, UK)
Mormon Studies - Douglas Davies (Durham University, UK)
Gender and Queer Studies - Megan Goodwin (University of North Carolina, USA)
Media Studies - Stephen Jacobs (University of Wolverhampton, UK)
Ritual Studies - Lee Gilmore (Graduate Theological Union, USA)

Part II: Current research and issues - longer essays on sub-disciplines within the field of NRM studies and major topics of current research interest.
Essays will not primarily focus on particular movements themselves, but consider wider trends within the field.

African NRMs - (Afe Adogame, University of Edinburgh, UK)
Conversion and Brainwashing - James T. Richardson (University of Nevada, USA)
Charisma and Leadership - David G. Bromley
(Virginia Commonwealth University, USA)
Gender - Megan Goodwin (University of North Carolina, USA)
Jonestown and the Study of NRMs - Fielding McGehee (Jonestown Institute, USA)
and Rebecca Moore (San Diego State University, USA)
Legal Issues - Anthony Bradney (Keele University, UK)
Millennialism - Catherine Wessinger (Loyola University, New Orleans, USA)
Opposition to NRMs - George D. Chryssides & Ben Zeller
Prophecy - Jon Stone (California State University, Long Beach, USA)
UFO Groups - Christopher Partridge (Lancaster University, UK)
Vernacular/Lived Religion - Marion Bowman (The Open University, UK)
Violence - Jim Lewis (University of Tromsø, Norway)
Western Esotericism - Kennet Granholm (Stockholm University)

Part III: New directions in the study of new religious movements - short essays on emerging trends, directions, and scholarly conversations within the field.
Essays in this section are forward-thinking considerations of scholarship and future directions.

Children/Generational Issues - (E. Burke Rocheford, Middlebury College, Vermont)
Globalization -Liselotte Frisk (Dalarna University, Sweden)
Healing - Holly Folk (Western Washington University, USA)
Invented Religions - Carole Cusack (University of Sydney)
Race and Ethnicity - Marie Dallam (University of Oklahoma, USA)
Role of the Internet - (Jean-François Mayer, Institute Religioscope, Switzerland)
Science - Ben Zeller (Lake Forest College, USA)
Travel and NRMs - Alex Norman (University of Sydney)

Part IV: Resources: A-Z (Key terms and concepts) by the Editors
Brief entries on major terms and concepts (provisional):
Anti-cult movement / Charisma / Communalism / Cult / Disengagement / Ethics / Food and Eating / Fundamentalism / God / Guru-Disciple / Institutionalization / Legitimation / Liberation-Salvation / Meditation / Messianism / Millennialism / Modernity-Postmodernity / Mysticism / Peace / Politics / Prayer / Predicament / Schism / Scripture / Secularization / Spirituality / Syncretism / Third Millennium Religion

Part V: Resources: Chronology, Academic Resources, Bibliography, Index.