New Religious Movements
New religious movements (NRMs) are recently founded or newly transplanted religious groups, studied as a distinctive feature of religious life in the modern and contemporary world.
Definition
The study of recently emerged or newly arrived religious groups and the social processes surrounding them.
Scope
This topic surveys the range of new religious movements, the scholarly use of the neutral term 'NRM' in place of 'cult', theories of why people join and leave such groups, the 'brainwashing' controversy, and the social and legal tensions that surround them. The treatment is descriptive and analytic, examining movements and the scholarship about them without endorsing or condemning particular groups.
Core questions
- What distinguishes a 'new religious movement' from established religions?
- Why and how do people join and leave NRMs?
- Is the popular notion of 'brainwashing' supported by evidence?
- How do societies and states respond to new religions?
Key theories
- Conversion and affiliation
- Eileen Barker's research showing that joining new religious movements typically involves ordinary social processes and active choice rather than coercive 'brainwashing', and that membership is often unstable.
- New religions as global religious change
- Peter Clarke's framing of NRMs as part of broader patterns of modern religious change, including globalization, individualization, and the circulation of religious ideas across cultures.
History
Scholarly study of new religious movements developed especially from the 1970s, prompted by the visibility of groups in North America, Europe, and Asia and by public controversy; researchers adopted the neutral term 'NRM' and challenged sensational 'anti-cult' claims while documenting a wide diversity of movements worldwide.
Debates
- The 'brainwashing' controversy
- Scholars largely reject the 'brainwashing' or coercive-persuasion model advanced by some anti-cult activists, while debating how to weigh member autonomy, group influence, and instances of genuine harm.
Key figures
- Eileen Barker
- Peter B. Clarke
- James R. Lewis
Related topics
Seminal works
- clarke2006
- barker1989
- lewis2004
Frequently asked questions
- Why do scholars avoid the word 'cult'?
- In everyday use 'cult' has become a pejorative term implying manipulation and danger; scholars prefer 'new religious movement' as a neutral category that does not prejudge a group.
- Are people 'brainwashed' into new religions?
- Most academic research finds that conversion to new religious movements involves ordinary social and psychological processes and active decision-making rather than literal mind control.