Table of Contents

New religious movements - their incidence and significance, Eileen Barker, London School of Economics; the Easternization of the west, Colin Campbell, University of York; prosperity and the new age movement - the efficacy of spiritual economics, Paul Heelas, University of Lancaster; new religious movements - the legal dimension, Anthony Bradney, University of Leicester; the mass media and new religious movements, James Beckford, University of Warwick; new religious movements and mental health, Lawrence Lilliston & Gary Shepherd, Oakland University, Michigan, USA; women in new religious movements, Elizabeth Puttick, British-American College, London; new religious movements and the churches, Rev. Colin Slee, Provost of Southwark; Damanhur - a magical community in Italy, Massimo Introvigne, CESNUR, Turin; Japanese new religious movements in Brazil - from ethnic to "Universal" religions, Peter Clarke, King's College, London,; anti-cultists in the United States - an historical perspective, J. Gordon Melton, University of California, Santa Barbara; the response to new religious movements in Eastern Germany after re-unification, Frank Usarski, Efurt Pedagogische Hochschule; Britain's anti-cult movement, George Chryssides, University of Wolverhampton.

About the Author

Dr Bryan Wilson is a Fellow Emeritus of All Souls College, Oxford. He is the author of numerous books on new religious movements. His most recent publications include, Scientology, The Social Dimensions of Sectarianism and Religion in Sociological Perspectives.

Reviews

"Together these essays offer a valuable comprehensive overview of the engagement of new religious movements with contemporary society."
-"The Way
"[T]he entire book will be an indispensable resource on New Religious Movements and will appeal to sociologists of religion [I]ndividual chapters in this impressive collection will appeal to a wide range of other readers."
-"Sociology
"This book makes a substantial contribution to our understanding of the new religions and to our efforts of keeping up with current developments. To those interested in, and concerned about, the movements' impact on individuals and society at large, this volume is useful both as a text as well as a reference book."
-John Saliba, University of Detroit
"New religions are usually seen through the narrow lens of a specific geographic location's ethnographic present. This book breaks new ground to present the complex global reality of modern spirituality. It is essential reading for any one seriously interested in this growing field."
-Irving Hexham, University of Calgary
"New Religious Movements is extremely informative, providing a comprehensive overview of a wide range of issues. Few collections of this sort have the degree of coherence that this has."
-Malcolm Hamilton, University of Reading