Stuart A Wright

Biographic Data

ID3819793
NAMEStuart A Wright
GIVEN NAMESStuart A
FAMILY NAMEWright
SIGNATUREWRIGHT S A
AFFILIATIONSLamar University
ORCID0000-0003-2058-6195
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS52
TOTAL CITATIONS47
AUTHOR COUNT51
EDITOR COUNT1
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR1980
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2024
H-INDEX4

  • Re-Examining Collective Religious Violence at Rajneeshpuram: A Cultural Opposition Model Analysis

    Open AccessStuart A WrightARTICLEJournal for the Scientific Study…2024References: 30

    The research literature on collective religious violence with regard to new or nontraditional religious movements (NRMs) has revealed an engaging set of arguments about the relative importance of internal versus external factors. While internal or group-bounded factors are certainly significant, external factors and conditions are sometimes overlooked or at least not fully appreciated. This article synthesizes several models of collective religio…

  • The Social Science of QAnon: A New Social and Political Phenomenon

    Open AccessMichael K Miller, Joseph M Pierre et al.BOOKThe Social Science of QAnon2023

    QAnon has emerged as the defining conspiracy group of our times, and its far-right conspiracies are extraordinary for their breadth and extremity. Bringing together scholars from psychology, sociology, communications, and political science, this cutting-edge volume uses social science theory to investigate aspects of QAnon. Following an introduction to the 'who, what, and why' of QAnon, Part I focuses on the psychological characteristics of QAnon…

  • Deconstructing Media Framing of the Waco Siege and Standoff on the 25th Anniversary

    Open AccessStuart A Wright, Stuart WrightARTICLETheory in Action2020

  • The Demise of Religion: How Religions End, Die, or Dissipate

    Open AccessMichael Stausberg, Stuart A Wright et al.BOOKThe Demise of Religion2020

    "This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. It is funded by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. Why do religions fail or die? Taking a multidisciplinary approach, this book explores this important question that has received little scholarly attention to date. International contributors provide case studies from the United States, England, Sweden, Japan, …

  • Media Review Waco after Twenty-five Years

    Stuart A WrightARTICLENova Religio The Journal of…2019

    Review Article| February 01 2019 Media Review Waco after Twenty-five Years: Media Reconstructions of the Federal Siege of the Branch Davidians Stuart A. Wright Stuart A. Wright Stuart A. Wright, Department of Sociology, Social Work & Criminal Justice, Lamar University, 4400 Martin Luther King Blvd., PO Box 10026, Beaumont, Texas 77710, USA. Email: [email protected] Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar No…

  • Countermovement Mobilization and State Raids on Minority Religious Communities

    Open AccessStuart A Wright, Susan J PalmerARTICLEJournal for the Scientific Study…2018Cited by: 3References: 36

    An ongoing study of government raids on minority religious communities in 19 Western-style democracies over seven-plus decades shows a dramatic increase in raids beginning in the 1990s. Two distinct and related patterns are found to explain this escalation in frequency. Both patterns involved countermovement mobilization by coalitions of oppositional groups that effectively framed new or nontraditional religious movements (NRMs) as threats to the…

  • Storming Zion: Government Raids on Religious Communities

    Stuart A Wright, Susan J PalmerBOOKStorming Zion2015

    The raid conducted by German police in 2013 against an American-based sect, the Twelve Tribes, is part of a troubling pattern. There have been a growing number of government raids on new or unconventional religious communities in recent years. In some cases, these have resulted in harmful and even deadly consequences, as in the federal siege of the Branch Davidians. Only a few decades ago such raids were relatively rare. But now governments appea…

  • The Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints after the Texas State Raid

    Stuart A Wright, J T RichardsonARTICLENova Religio The Journal of…2014

    This article explores the impact of the 2008 Texas raid on the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints community near Eldorado called the Yearning for Zion Ranch. We examine some critical post-raid developments and the convictions of prophet Warren Jeffs and ten other key church leaders on charges related to marriages with underage girls. These developments include Jeffs’ efforts to maintain his authority from prison, non-compliance by some members, the…

  • Mormon Polygamy in the United States: Historical, Cultural and Legal Issues Edited by Cardell K. Jacobson With Lara Burton

    Open AccessStuart A WrightARTICLEJournal for the Scientific Study…2011

  • Revisiting the Branch Davidian Mass Suicide Debate

    Stuart A WrightARTICLENova Religio The Journal of…2009

    This paper revisits the controversy, recently revived by British religious studies scholar, Kenneth C. G. Newport, that the Branch Davidians had a theological rationale for mass suicide and likely set fire to their own home. Newport couples the theological argument with assertions of "unassailable evidence" regarding the government's reports as if no alternative explanation is plausible. The paper challenges Newport's claim to the "unassailable e…

  • Reframing Religious Violence after 9/11: Analysis of the ACM Campaign to Exploit the Threat of Terrorism

    Stuart A WrightARTICLENova Religio The Journal of…2009

    This study examines the concerted efforts of anticult movement (ACM) actors to weave narratives of cult brainwashing and mind control into the tragic events of 9/11. Key ACM leaders launched a national media campaign capitalizing on widespread fears and apprehensions surrounding the 9/11 terrorist attacks in an effort to control the framing of the incident as just another form of cult violence and al-Qaeda operatives as brainwashed cultists. By a…

  • Strategic Framing of Racial-Nationalism in North America and Europe: An Analysis of a Burgeoning Transnational Network

    Stuart A WrightARTICLETerrorism and Political Violence2009Cited by: 4

    Following the deadly Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, far-right racialist leaders responded rapidly to changes in the political environment, disavowing militia and Patriot violence and exploiting increased public concerns about immigration and the growth of nonwhite populations. Evidence suggests that Patriot movement demobilization may have actually helped to swell the ranks of racial-nationalists. As attention to political violence shifted to int…

  • Patriots, Politics, and the Oklahoma City Bombing

    Open AccessStuart A WrightBOOKPatriots, Politics, and the…2007

    This book explores social movements by analyzing an escalating spiral of tension between the Patriot movement and the state centered on the mutual framing of conflict as 'warfare'. By examining the social construction of 'warfare' as a principal script or frame defining the movement-state dynamic, Stuart A. Wright explains how this highly charged confluence of a war narrative engendered a kind of symbiosis leading to the escalation of a mutual th…

  • The Branch Davidians of Waco: The History and Beliefs of an Apocalyptic Sect Edited by Kenneth G. C. Newport

    Open AccessStuart A WrightARTICLEJournal for the Scientific Study…2007References: 1

  • Making war: Patriots, politics, and the Oklahoma City bombing

    Stuart A WrightBOOKMaking war2007

    This book explores new ground in social movements by analyzing an escalating spiral of tension between the Patriot movement and the state centered on the mutual framing of conflict as "warfare." By examining the social construction of "warfare" as a principal script or frame defining the movement-state dynamic, Stuart A. Wright explains how this highly charged confluence of a war narrative engendered a kind of symbiosis leading to the escalation …

  • A Decade After Waco: Reassessing Crisis Negotiations at Mount Carmel in Light of New Government Disclosures

    Stuart A WrightARTICLENova Religio The Journal of…2003

    On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the disastrous federal siege of the Branch Davidians, the tragedy is revisited in light of new government disclosures regarding negotiations during the 51-day standoff. Some of the newly available records - post-incident interviews with negotiators conducted by Justice Department investigators and memoranda written by negotiators or members of the FBI command structure—were concealed by the government f…

  • Cults, Religion, and Violence

    Open AccessThomas Robbins, Lorne L Dawson et al.BOOKCults, Religion, and Violence2002

    This explores the question of when and why violence by and against new religious cults erupts and whether and how such dramatic conflicts can be foreseen, managed and averted. The authors, leading international experts on religious movements and violent behavior, focus on the four major episodes of cult violence during the last decade: the tragic conflagration that engulfed the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas; the deadly sarin gas attack by the A…

  • Justice Denied: The Waco Civil Trial

    Stuart A WrightARTICLENova Religio The Journal of…2001

    A critical analysis is conducted of the wrongful death lawsuit brought against the United States government by Branch Davidian survivors and relatives. It is argued that a flawed verdict, exonerating the government of wrongdoing, was the result of evidentiary and procedural rulings by the trial judge that prevented the jury from hearing key evidence. The substance of this evidence is discussed and evaluated for its implications in producing an en…

  • Field Notes from Waco: Isabel Andrade et al v. U.S

    Stuart A WrightARTICLENova Religio The Journal of…2001

    Other| April 01 2001 Field Notes from Waco: Isabel Andrade et al v. U.S. Stuart A. Wright Stuart A. Wright Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Nova Religio (2001) 4 (2): 351–356. https://doi.org/10.1525/nr.2001.4.2.351 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Tools Icon Tools Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citati…

  • Children in New Religions

    Stuart A Wright, Susan J Palmer et al.ARTICLEContemporary Sociology A Journal…2001

  • Millennium, Messiahs, and Mayhem: Contemporary Apocalyptic Movements

    Stuart A Wright, Thomas Robbins et al.ARTICLEContemporary Sociology A Journal…1999

  • Anatomy of a government massacre: Abuses of hostage-barricade protocols during the Waco standoff

    Stuart A WrightARTICLETerrorism and Political Violence1999Cited by: 4References: 8

    A systematic evaluation of the FBI's crisis negotiations with the Branch Davidians during a 51‐day standoff in 1993 is conducted. The analysis uncovers extensive violations of basic hostage‐barricade standards and protocols. The violations appear shortly after negotiations began indicating a premature disregard for the publicly declared goal of a peaceful resolution. Failed negotiations subsequently were cited by FBI officials as a rationale for …

  • Cookbook or cooking the books: A rejoinder to Gallagher, Docherty and Noble

    Stuart A WrightARTICLETerrorism and Political Violence1999References: 1

  • The New Age Movement: The Celebration of the Self and the Sacralization of Modernity

    Stuart A Wright, Paul HeelasARTICLESociology of Religion1999

    This article examines the New Age movement as a form of sacralization of modernity. It argues that New Age is not a rejection of modernity but rather a selective appropriation and re-sacralization of key aspects of modern culture. The authors analyze how New Age practitioners draw upon modern therapeutic, psychological, and scientific discourses to construct a spiritual worldview that celebrates the self and personal transformation. They also exp…

  • Radical Religion in America: Millenarian Movements from the Far Right to the Children of Noah

    Stuart A Wright, Jon Kaplan et al.ARTICLESociology of Religion1999

    Journal Article Radical Religion in America: Millenarian Movements from the Far Right to the Children of Noah, by Jeffrey Kaplan. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1997, 245 pp. $39.95, $16.95 (pbk) Get access Stuart A. Wright Stuart A. Wright Lamar University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Sociology of Religion, Volume 60, Issue 2, Summer 1999, Pages 205–206, https://doi.org/10.2307/3711754 Publis…