The Cultic Milieu Oppositional Subcultures in an Age of Globalization

by Kaplan, Jeffrey S.; Lööw, Heléne; Wilcox, Laird; Campbell, Colin; Taylor, Bron; Miller, Timothy; Kurti, Laszlo; Introvigne, Massimo; Gardell, Mattias; Simonelli, Frederick J.; Melton, J Gordon

• ISBN13: 9780759102040
• ISBN10: 075910204X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-07-23
• Publisher: AltaMira Press

Summary

In 1972--a period of social upheaval much like today--sociologist Colin Campbell posited a cultic milieu: An underground region where true seekers test hidden, forgotten, and forbidden knowledge. Ideas and allegiances within the milieu change as individuals move between loosely organized groups, but the larger milieu persists in opposition to the dominant culture. Jeffrey Kaplan and Helene Loow find Campbell's theory especially useful in coming to grips with the varied oppositional groups of today.

Author Biography

Mattias Gardell is a researcher with the Center for Migration Studies (CEIFO) at Stockholm University Massimo Introvigne is Managing Director of CESNUR, the Center for Studies on New Religions, in Torino, Italy Jeffrey Kaplan is an assistant professor of Religion at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh Laszlo Kurti is professor of political science and social anthropology at the University of Miskolc, Hungary Helene Loow was appointed to the National Council of Crime Prevention in Stockholm, Sweden J. Gordon Melton is the director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion in Santa Barbara, California and a research specialist with the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara Timothy Miller is a professor of Religious Studies at the University of Kansas Frederick J. Simonelli is currently associate professor of History and chair of the Department of History And Political Science at Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles Bron Taylor is Oshkosh Foundation Professor of Religion, and director of environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh Laird Wilcox is founder of the Wilcox Collection on Contemporary Political Movements in Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
The Cult, the Cultic Milieu and Secularization	p. 12
Diggers, Wolves, Ents, Elves and Expanding Universes	p. 26
The Historical Communal Roots of Ultraconservative Groups	p. 75
Neo-Shamanism, Psychic Phenomena and Media Trickery	p. 110
The Gothic Milieu	p. 138
Black and White Unite in Fight?	p. 152
The Idea of Purity	p. 193
Thriving in a Cultic Milieu	p. 211
The Postwar Paths of Occult National Socialism	p. 225
The Modern Anti-Cult Movement in Historical Perspective	p. 265
"Who Watches the Watchman?"	p. 290
Index	p. 344
About the Contributors	p. 352
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