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Routledge New Religions

About the Book Series

The popularity and significance of New Religious Movements is reflected in the explosion of related articles and books now being published. This series offers an invaluable resource and lasting contribution to the field.

11 Series Titles


Leading the Hare Krishna Movement The Crisis of Succession in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness

Leading the Hare Krishna Movement: The Crisis of Succession in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness

1st Edition

By Angela R. Burt
May 27, 2024

This book examines issues of leadership and succession in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) which was founded in by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in 1966. After the founder’s death in 1977, the movement was led by a group of gurus in a "zonal system" ...

Contemporary Spiritualities Enchanted Worlds of Nature, Wellbeing and Mystery in Italy

Contemporary Spiritualities: Enchanted Worlds of Nature, Wellbeing and Mystery in Italy

1st Edition

By Stefania Palmisano, Nicola Pannofino
May 30, 2022

Contemporary alternative spirituality, as studied by sociologists, is usually seen as a recent phenomenon dating from the 1960s and 1970s. However, when viewed from a longer-term perspective this form of religious expression is actually seen to reintroduce concepts that recur throughout Western ...

Israelism in Modern Britain

Israelism in Modern Britain

1st Edition

By Aidan Cottrell-Boyce
May 06, 2022

This book unpacks the history of British-Israelism in the UK. Remarkably, this subject has had very little attention: remarkable, because at its height in the post-war era, the British-Israelist movement could claim to have tens of thousands of card-carrying adherents and counted amongst its ...

Yearning to Belong Discovering a New Religious Movement

Yearning to Belong: Discovering a New Religious Movement

1st Edition

By John Paul Healy
June 07, 2019

Cutting across three areas of interest within New Religious Movements - insider perspectives, sociology of religion and the helping professions - this book explores insiders' experience of the Indian Guru-disciple Yogic tradition and is authored by a former member of that tradition. Highlighting ...

Sacred Suicide

Sacred Suicide

1st Edition

Edited By James R. Lewis, Carole M. Cusack
February 06, 2018

The label 'Suicide Cults' has been applied to a wide variety of different alternative religions, from Jonestown to the Solar Temple to Heaven's Gate. Additionally, observers have asked if such group suicides are in any way comparable to Islamist suicide terrorism, or to historical incidents of mass...

Jehovah's Witnesses Continuity and Change

Jehovah's Witnesses: Continuity and Change

1st Edition

By George D. Chryssides
February 05, 2018

From its origins in nineteenth century Adventism until the present day, the Watch Tower Society has become one of the best known but least understood new religious movements. Resisting the tendency to define the movement in terms of the negative, this volume offers an empathetic account of the ...

The Art of Living Foundation Spirituality and Wellbeing in the Global Context

The Art of Living Foundation: Spirituality and Wellbeing in the Global Context

1st Edition

By Stephen Jacobs
March 29, 2017

The Hindu-derived meditation movement, The Art of Living (AOL), founded in 1981 by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in Bangalore, has grown into a global organization which claims presence in more than 150 countries. Stephen Jacobs presents the first comprehensive study of AOL as an important transnational ...

The New Generation Witches Teenage Witchcraft in Contemporary Culture

The New Generation Witches: Teenage Witchcraft in Contemporary Culture

1st Edition

By Peg Aloi, Hannah E. Johnston
January 27, 2017

From the shelves of mainstream bookstores and the pages of teen magazines, to popular films and television series, contemporary culture at the turn of the twenty-first century has been fascinated with teenage identity and the presence of magic and the occult. Alongside this profusion of products ...

Contemporary Religious Satanism A Critical Anthology

Contemporary Religious Satanism: A Critical Anthology

1st Edition

Edited By Jesper Aagaard Petersen
December 07, 2016

The Church of Satan was founded by Anton LaVey on April 30, 1966. In his hands, Satan became a provocative symbol for indulgence, vital existence, natural wisdom and the human being's true animal nature. At present, religious Satanism exists primarily as a decentralized subculture with a strong ...

The Nuwaubian Nation Black Spirituality and State Control

The Nuwaubian Nation: Black Spirituality and State Control

1st Edition

By Susan Palmer
November 28, 2016

The Nuwaubian Nation takes the reader on a journey into an African-American spiritual movement. The United Nuwaubian Nation has changed shape since its inceptions in the 1970s, transforming from a Black Hebrew mystery school into a Muslim utopian community in Brooklyn, N.Y.; from an Egyptian theme ...

The Order of the Solar Temple The Temple of Death

The Order of the Solar Temple: The Temple of Death

1st Edition

Edited By James R. Lewis
September 06, 2016

In October 1994, fifty-three members of the Order of the Solar Temple in Switzerland and Québec were murdered or committed suicide. This incident and two later group suicides in subsequent years played a pivotal role in inflaming the cult controversy in Europe, influencing the public to support ...

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