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From Yoga to Kabbalah Vronique Altglas (Lecturer in Sociology, Lecturer in Sociology, Queen's University Belfast)

From Yoga to Kabbalah By Vronique Altglas (Lecturer in Sociology, Lecturer in Sociology, Queen's University Belfast)

Summary

This book aims to provide an understanding of "religious exoticism", and of the ways in which certain foreign religious practices and beliefs are disseminated and appropriated through contemporary practices of bricolage.

From Yoga to Kabbalah Summary

From Yoga to Kabbalah: Religious Exoticism and the Logics of Bricolage by Vronique Altglas (Lecturer in Sociology, Lecturer in Sociology, Queen's University Belfast)

Religious exoticism implies a deeply ambivalent relationship to otherness and to religion itself: traditional religious teachings are uprooted and fragmented in order to be appropriated as practical methods for personal growth. Western contemporary societies have seen the massive popularization of such exotic religious resources as yoga and meditation, Shamanism, Buddhism, Sufism and Kabbalah. Véronique Altglas shows that these trends inform us about how religious resources are disseminated globally, as well as how the self is constructed in society. She uses two case studies: the Hindu-based movements in France and Britain that started in the 1970s, and the Kabbalah Centre in France, Britain, Brazil, and Israel. She draws upon major qualitative and cross-cultural empirical investigations to conceptualize religious exoticism and offer a nuanced and original understanding of its contemporary significance. From Yoga to Kabbalah broadens scholarly understanding of the globalization of religion, how religions are modified through cultural encounters, and of religious life in neoliberal societies.

From Yoga to Kabbalah Reviews

This book is pioneering, important, critical, and timely. It shows that Kabbalah Centres in four different countries and neo-Hindu movements in France and Britain raise some fascinating theoretical questions which challenge conventional thinking about bricolage, religious exoticism, and psychological self-realization. The combination of lively ethnographic detail and conceptual precision is truly impressive and will appeal to all readers with interests in social, religious, and cultural logics * James A. Beckford, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, University of Warwick *

About Vronique Altglas (Lecturer in Sociology, Lecturer in Sociology, Queen's University Belfast)

Véronique Altglas is Lecturer in Sociology at Queen's University Belfast. She has conducted research on the transnational expansion of neo-Hindu movements, the management of minority religions in France and Britain, and anti-Semitism.

Table of Contents

Introduction ; Chapter 1: The Cultural and Historical Dimensions of Religious Exoticism ; Chapter 2: Religious Exoticism, Belonging and Identities: the Discomfort of Bricolage ; Chapter 3: Universalizing and De-contextualizing Exotic Religious Resources ; Chapter 4: Universalistic Ambitions, Local Realities: Bricolage in (national) context ; Chapter 5: The Psychologization of Exotic Religious Resources ; Chapter 6: Bricolage and the Social Significance of Self-realization ; Chapter 7: Religious Exoticism and the "New Petite Bourgeoisie" ; Conclusion ; References ; Index

Additional information

NLS9780199997633
9780199997633
0199997632
From Yoga to Kabbalah: Religious Exoticism and the Logics of Bricolage by Vronique Altglas (Lecturer in Sociology, Lecturer in Sociology, Queen's University Belfast)
New
Paperback
Oxford University Press Inc
2014-06-26
408
N/A
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