The Economic Strategies of New Religious Movements

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4264182
AutoresFrederick Bird (Concordia University), Frederick B Bird, Frances Westley (McGill University)
Ano1985
Volume46
Fascículo2
Páginas157
Data de publicação1985-01-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoSociological Analysis (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0038-0210 • E-ISSN: 2325-7873
EditoraOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/3711058
OpenAlexW2410054342
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas7
Referências citadas6

This article analyzes the economic strategies of new religious and para-religious movements by comparing them with the economic strategies of traditional religious associations. The article is based on research of several dozen such movements in the Montreal area. It is argued that the economic strategies of religious groups, old and new, closely reflect and influence the overall social policies of these groups, especially their attitudes towards recruitment and the status of participants, who, after all, provide the major sources of economic resources. The paper argues that the economic strategies of contemporary new religious and para-religious movements are distinctive both, (I) because of the prominence many of them give to providing various services for fees or donations to largely transient clients or affiliates and, (II) because of their comparative successes in recruiting core groups of highly committed adepts, who in turn donate extensive unpaid labor. The article observes the relative absence among these groups of financial contributions by regular lay members, by means of dues, titles and pledges. In the conclusion, the article examines the consequences of this configuration and the instability which these financial and organizational strategies produce

Economic stability · Economics · Political economy · Political science · Religious organization · Sociology · Law · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Gender, and Enlightenment · Religion, Society, and Development