The Politics of Religious Apostasy The Role of Apostates in the Transformation of Religious Movements

Subjects:

• Religious Studies » Religious Studies (General)
• Sociology » Sociology (General)

Reviews:

• This is a remarkably unified collection of high-quality essays by many leading sociologists of new religious movements.
  —American Journal of Sociology
• The book is a superb effort to examine in depth the complexity and significance of the apostate role, and to illuminate the processes through which subversive evil is socially constructed. Taken together, the authors contribute a diverse array of theory, data and substantive insights that add to our knowledge of the inner-workings of new religious movements....I recommend this book for classes in organizations, sociology of religion, psychology of religion, group dynamics and related subjects.
  —The Social Science Journal
• This is a well-coordinated collection of essays in sociology.
  —Social History

Table of Contents:

• Introduction
• Sociological Perspectives on Apostasy: An Overview by David G. Bromley
• A Comparative Approach to Organizational Exit
• The Social Construction of Contested Exit Roles: Defectors, Whistleblowers, and Apostates by David G. Bromley
• The Apostate Role and Career
• In Defense of Self: Apostasy as Spoiled Identity by Armand L. Mauss
• The Politics of Marginal Heresy by Eileen Barker
• Exploring the Varieties of Apostate Roles by Stuart A. Wright
• Apostates Who Never Were: The Social Construction of Absque Facto Apostate Narratives by Daniel Carson Johnson
• The Organizational Context of Apostasy
• Apostasy, Apocalypse, and Religious Violence: An Exploratory Comparison of Peoples Temple, the Branch Davidians, and the Solar Temple by John R. Hall and Philip Schuyler
• Apostates, Defectors, Law and Social Control by James T. Richardson
• Apostates and Their Role in the Construction of Grievance Claims Against the Northeast Kingdom/Messianic Communities by Susan J. Palmer
• The Changing Apostate Role in the Evolution of the North American Anti-cult Movement by Anson Shupe
• Methodological Issues in the Study of Apostasy
• Carriers of Tales: On Assessing Credibility of Apostate and Other Outsider Accounts of Religious Practices by Lewis F. Carter