Introduction 1. Religion: a social constructionist approach 2. Secularisation 3. The vagaries of religious pluralism 4. Globalisation and religion 5. Social theory and religious movements 6. Constructing religion, self and society.

Social Theory and Religion

We live in a moment of unprecedented complexity, an era in which change occurs faster than our ability to comprehend it. With "The Moment of Complexity", Mark C. Taylor offers a map for the unfamiliar terrain opening in our midst, unfolding an original philosophy of our time through a remarkable synthesis of science and culture. According to Taylor, complexity is not just a breakthrough scientific concept but the defining quality of the post-Cold War era. The flux of digital currents swirling around us, he argues, has created a new network culture with its own distinctive logic and dynamic. Drawing on resources from information theory and evolutionary biology, Taylor explains the operation of complex adaptive systems in natural, social and cultural processes. To appreciate the significance of emerging network culture, he claims, it is necessary not only to understand contemporary scientific and technological transformations, but also to explore the subtle influences of art, architecture, philosophy, religion and education. "The Moment of Complexity" is a remarkable work of cultural analysis on a scale rarely seen today. To follow its trajectory is to learn how we arrived at this critical moment in our culture, and to know where we might head in the 21st century.

The Moment of Complexity: Emerging Network Culture

This article uses data from the World Values Survey to study the spread of post-Christian spirituality (“New Age”) in 14 Western countries (1981‐2000, N = 61,352). It demonstrates that this type of spirituality, characterized by a sacralization of the self, has become more widespread during the period 1981‐2000 in most of these countries. It has advanced farthest in France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Sweden. This spiritual turn proves a byproduct of the decline of traditional moral values and hence driven by cohort replacement. Spirituality’s popularity among the well educated also emerges from the latter’s low levels of traditionalism. These findings confirm the theory of detraditionalization, according to which a weakening of the grip of tradition on individual selves stimulates a spiritual turn to the deeper layers of the self.

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The Spiritual Turn and the Decline of Tradition: The Spread of Post‐Christian Spirituality in 14 Western Countries, 1981–2000

Illness narratives: time, hope and HIV

A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America

The New Age Movement can be seen as one response to the decline of traditional religion in the West. It conforms to the spiritual pluralism that Bryan Wilson understands as a consequence of secularization. From a New Age perspective, the world's various spiritual traditions are now public property and no longer the private preserve of the parochial groups or religious elites that they once were. Since in this open availability process, the sacred becomes commodified, the general argument allows that it can be bought and sold and thus consumed according to basic free-market principles. The paper explores both the New Age rationale for spiritual commercialization and some of the clashes this engenders with the traditions from which it appropriates.

New Age Commodification and Appropriation of Spirituality

Introduction and Overview The New Age Movement The Neo-pagan Movement New Age and Neo-paganism - Similarities, Contrasts and Relationships Survey Profiles of Particular New Age and Neo-pagan Groups New Age and Neo-paganism as Practiced and Observed Church-Sect Typologies.

The Emerging Network: A Sociology of the New Age and Neo-pagan Movements

In Pagan Theology, Michael York situates Paganism one of the fastest-growing spiritual orientations in the West as a world religion. He provides an introduction to, and expansion of, the concept of Paganism and provides an overview of Paganism's theological perspective and practice. He demonstrates it to be a viable and distinguishable spiritual perspective found around the world today in such forms as Chinese folk religion, Shinto, tribal religions, and neo-Paganism in the West. While adherents to many of these traditions do not use the word "pagan" to describe their beliefs or practices, York contends that there is an identifiable position possessing characteristics and understandings in common for which the label "pagan" is appropriate. After outlining these characteristics, he examines many of the world's major religions to explore religious behaviours in other religions which are not themselves pagan, but which have pagan elements. In the course of examining such behaviour, York provides rich and lively descriptions of religions in action, including Buddhism and Hinduism. Pagan Theology claims Paganism's place as a world religion, situating it as a religion, a behaviour, and a theology.

Pagan Theology: Paganism as a World Religion

The Roman Festival Calendar of Numa Pompilius

Chapter 1 Acknowledgments Chapter 2 Editor's Foreword Chapter 3 Preface Chapter 4 Chronology Chapter 5 Introduction Chapter 6 The Dictionary Chapter 7 Bibliography Chapter 8 Index Chapter 9 About the Author

Michael York

Papers

New Age Commodification and Appropriation of Spirituality

The Emerging Network: A Sociology of the New Age and Neo-pagan Movements

Pagan Theology: Paganism as a World Religion

The Roman Festival Calendar of Numa Pompilius

Historical dictionary of New Age movements