On the religious identification of new religious communities: instrumentation problem
Research Article
How to Cite
Riazanova S.V. On the religious identification of new religious communities: instrumentation problem. Science. Culture. Society. 2023. Vol. 29. No. 2. P. 75-90. DOI: https://doi.org/10.19181/nko.2023.29.2.7 (in Russ.).
Abstract
The study is dedicated to the issue of identification of local religious communities that have emerged in recent decades and that seem to be syncretistic. The main research question of the article is how to establish basic identification criteria that could become the basis for compiling a classification or typology. Two strategies for identifying communities are explored: one is based on using a number of external markers, another one relies on self-identification of the bearers of religious consciousness and their internal definitions. The first strategy was chosen as the key one due to being less subjective; the second one was utilized as a means of additional verification. As research objects that can be defined as belonging to the same series, two local communities have been selected that arose at the end of the last century on the territory of the outer Kama region and evolved from Orthodox communities to another type of associations. Methodologically the study is based on the materials resulting from the author’s field research (participant observation, expert interviews, semi-structured interviews with former community members and its current leaders, excerpts from the author’s personal correspondence with believers), data from journalistic investigations, statutory documents and websites of both organizations in different periods of time. The doctrinal part of the teachings of both groups and lived rituals practiced by them were chosen as primary objects for analysis. The research shows that both communities in question cannot be defined as belonging to the Christian tradition due to the specifics of the dogma, the use of some magical practices, and the presence of elements of secular culture. The specificity of the ideas and rituals of each of the groups demonstrates that classifications and broad definitions are not applicable to associations of their kind. It seems more appropriate not to place these groups into a class of religious associations of a new type (new religious movements), but to define them as new social groups positioned at the junction of religious and non-religious spheres of public life.
Keywords:
new religious movements, identification problem, identification criteria, religious communities of the Kama region
References
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27. Campbell B. A Typology of Cults. Sociological Analysis. 1978;39(3):228–240. DOI 10.2307/3710443.
28. Gussner R. E., Berkowitz S. D. Scholars, Sects and Sanghas: Recruitment to Asian-Based Meditation Groups in North America. Sociological Analysis. 1988;49(2):136–170. DOI 10.2307/3711010.
29. Neville R. "Boston Confucianism" - the roots of Eastern culture on Western soil. Problemy Dalʹnego Vostoka=Far eastern studies. 1995;(1):138–149. (In Russ.).
30. Barker A. V. New religious movements: A practical introduction. St. Petersburg: Russkaya khristianskaya gumanitarnaya akademiya; 1997. 282 p. (In Russ.). ISBN 5-88-812-06-x.
31. Balagushkin E. G. Non-traditional religions in modern Russia. Morphological analysis. Moscow: IF RAN, 1999. 244 p. (In Russ.). ISBN 5-201-02012-7.
32. Grigulevich I. R. Prophets of the “new truth”: essays on cults and superstitions of the modern capitalist world. Moscow: Politizdat; 1983. 303 p. (In Russ.).
33. Grigoryeva L. I. New Age Religions and the Modern State. Krasnoyarsk: SibGTU; 2002. 399 p. (In Russ.). ISBN 5-8173-0113-X.
34. Gurevich P. S. Non-traditional religions in the West and Eastern religious cults. Moscow: Znanie; 1985. 64 p. (In Russ.).
35. Zabiyako A. Will alien gods save us. Perspektivy. 1992;(2):112–118. (In Russ.).
36. Kanterov I. Ya. New religious movements in Russia. Religious Analysis. Moscow: b.i.; 2006. 467 p. (In Russ.).
37. Klyuev B. I. Neo-religious movements in modern India. Narody Azii i Afriki=Peoples of Asia and Africa. 1984;(6):25–34. (In Russ.).
38. Matveev V. Devotees of Krishna - who are they? Nauka i religiya. 1990;(10):25–28. (In Russ.).
39. Mitrokhin L. N. Religions of the "new age". Moscow: Sov. Rossiya; 1985. 157 p. (In Russ.).
40. Tkacheva A. A. New religions of the East. Moscow: Nauka; 1991. 137 p. (In Russ.). ISBN 5-02-016913-7.
41. Goffman E. Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates Garden City. Moscow: Elementary forms; 2019. 464 p. (In Russ.). ISBN 978-5-95002-44-4-3.
2. Ryazanova S. V. The structure of contemporary religious consciousness: the general and the specific. Vestnik NGU. Seriya: Filosofiya. 2012;10(3):197–204. (In Russ.).
3. Ryazanova S. V. Myth in its correlation with religious and secular types of worldview. Naučnyj ežegodnik Instituta filosofii i prava UrO RAN. 2012;(12):123–136. (In Russ.).
4. Ryazanova S. V. Continuum and time in myth. Vestnik Permskogo nauchnogo tsentra UrO RAN. 2014;(4):37–44. (In Russ.).
5. Smirnov M. Yu. Is it possible to abandon the concept of religiosity in the study of religion? Vestnik Russkoj hristianskoj gumanitarnoj akademii. 2015;16(2):145–153. (In Russ.).
6. Ryazanova S. V. “Popular Theology” in the “God’s family” church: subjects, images, myths. Technologos. 2019. № 1. С. 85–100. (In Russ.). DOI 10.15593/perm.kipf/2019.1.07.
7. Ryazanova S. V. The closed religious community: the strategy of forming and the principles of functioning. Sociologicheskaja nauka I social’naja praktika=Sociological science and social practice. 2020;8(2):86–100. (In Russ.). DOI 10.19181/snsp.2020.8.2.7306.
8. Ryazanova S. V. Balances of power in closed religious communities (local case). Gumanitarnyj vektor=Humanitarian vector. 2020;15(4):24–32. (In Russ.). DOI 10.21209/1996-7853-2020-15-4-24-32.
9. Ryazanova S. V. Isolated communities as a phenomenon of contemporary religious life. Vestnik PSTGU. Seriâ I. Bogoslovie, filosofiâ, religiovedenie. 2021;(96):119–135. (In Russ.). DOI 10.15382/sturI202196.119-135.
10. Ryazanova S. V. Transformation an Orthodox parish: from catechism to patriotism (the case of the intercession commune in Perm). Koncept: filosofiâ, religiâ, kulʹtura=Concept: philosophy, religion, culture. 2022;6(4):41–54. (In Russ.). DOI 10.24833/2541-8831-2022-4-24-41-54.
11. Mayring Ph. Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse. Grundlagen und Techniken. Weinheim und Basel: Beltz Verlag; 1983. 117 p. ISBN 978-3-407-54649-4.
12. Goffman E. Behavior in Public Places. New York: Free Press of Glencoe; 1963.
13. Anderson B. Imagined communities. Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. Moscow: Kuchkovo pole; 2016. 416 p. (In Russ.). ISBN 5-93354-017-3.
14. Shorokhova V. A. Religious identity in foreign psychological studies: theoretical models and research methods. Sotsial'naya psikhologiya i obshchestvo=Social Psychology and Society. 2014;5(4):44–61. (In Russ.).
15. Swatos W. H. Jr. Church-Sect and Cult: Bringing Mysticism Back. Sociological Analysis. 1981;42(1):17–26. DOI 10.2307/3709699.
16. Hoge D. R., Smith E. L. Normative and Non-Normative Religious Experience Among High School Youth. Sociological Analysis. 1982;43(1):69–82. DOI 10.2307/3711419.
17. Robbins T., Anthony D., Richardson J. Theory and Research of Today’s “New Religions”. Sociological Analysis. 1978;39(2):95–122. DOI 10.2307/3710211.
18. Stone D. New Religious Consciousness and personal religious Experience. Sociological Analysis. 1978. Vol. 39, No. 2. P. 123–134. DOI 10.2307/3710212.
19. Beckford J. A. Some Questions about the Relationship between Scholars and the New Religious Movements. Sociological Analysis. 1983;44(3):189–195. DOI 10.2307/3711499.
20. Beckford J. A. Cults, Controversy and Control: A Comparative Analysis of the Problems Posed by New Religious Movements in the Federal Republic of Germany and France. Sociological Analysis. 1981;42(3):249–263. DOI 10.2307/3711037.
21. Aidada A. A. Social Change, Gender Roles, and New Religious Movements. Sociological Analysis. 1985;46(3):287–314. DOI 10.2307/3710695.
22. Robertson R. Religious Movements and Modern Societies: toward a Progressive Problemshift. Sociological Analysis. 1979;40(4):297–314. DOI 10.2307/3709959.
23. Wallis R. Paradoxes of Freedom and Regulation: the Case of New Religious Movements in Britain and America. Sociological Analysis. 1988;48(4):355–371.
24. Berger A. L. Hasidism and Moonism: Charisma in the Counterculture. Sociological Analysis. 1980;41(4):375–390. DOI 10.2307/3709891.
25. Davil G. Global Civil Religion: a European Perspective. Sociological Analysis. 2001;62(4):455–473. DOI 10.2307/3712436.
26. Johnson B. On Founders and Followers: Some Factors in the Development of New Religious Movements. Sociological Analysis. 1992;53(S):1–13. DOI 10.2307/3711247.
27. Campbell B. A Typology of Cults. Sociological Analysis. 1978;39(3):228–240. DOI 10.2307/3710443.
28. Gussner R. E., Berkowitz S. D. Scholars, Sects and Sanghas: Recruitment to Asian-Based Meditation Groups in North America. Sociological Analysis. 1988;49(2):136–170. DOI 10.2307/3711010.
29. Neville R. "Boston Confucianism" - the roots of Eastern culture on Western soil. Problemy Dalʹnego Vostoka=Far eastern studies. 1995;(1):138–149. (In Russ.).
30. Barker A. V. New religious movements: A practical introduction. St. Petersburg: Russkaya khristianskaya gumanitarnaya akademiya; 1997. 282 p. (In Russ.). ISBN 5-88-812-06-x.
31. Balagushkin E. G. Non-traditional religions in modern Russia. Morphological analysis. Moscow: IF RAN, 1999. 244 p. (In Russ.). ISBN 5-201-02012-7.
32. Grigulevich I. R. Prophets of the “new truth”: essays on cults and superstitions of the modern capitalist world. Moscow: Politizdat; 1983. 303 p. (In Russ.).
33. Grigoryeva L. I. New Age Religions and the Modern State. Krasnoyarsk: SibGTU; 2002. 399 p. (In Russ.). ISBN 5-8173-0113-X.
34. Gurevich P. S. Non-traditional religions in the West and Eastern religious cults. Moscow: Znanie; 1985. 64 p. (In Russ.).
35. Zabiyako A. Will alien gods save us. Perspektivy. 1992;(2):112–118. (In Russ.).
36. Kanterov I. Ya. New religious movements in Russia. Religious Analysis. Moscow: b.i.; 2006. 467 p. (In Russ.).
37. Klyuev B. I. Neo-religious movements in modern India. Narody Azii i Afriki=Peoples of Asia and Africa. 1984;(6):25–34. (In Russ.).
38. Matveev V. Devotees of Krishna - who are they? Nauka i religiya. 1990;(10):25–28. (In Russ.).
39. Mitrokhin L. N. Religions of the "new age". Moscow: Sov. Rossiya; 1985. 157 p. (In Russ.).
40. Tkacheva A. A. New religions of the East. Moscow: Nauka; 1991. 137 p. (In Russ.). ISBN 5-02-016913-7.
41. Goffman E. Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates Garden City. Moscow: Elementary forms; 2019. 464 p. (In Russ.). ISBN 978-5-95002-44-4-3.
Article
Received: 10.05.2023
Accepted: 30.06.2023
Citation Formats
Other cite formats:
APA
Riazanova, S. V. (2023). On the religious identification of new religious communities: instrumentation problem. Science. Culture. Society, 29(2), 75-90. https://doi.org/10.19181/nko.2023.29.2.7
Section
Sociology of religion
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