New Religious Movements and Rapid Social Change (Paperback, New edition)

The twentieth century has seen a considerable and unexpected proliferation of new religious movements in many parts of the world, often associated with periods of rapid social change. This volume - now available in paper - explains the development and characteristics of these movements comparatively and analyzes their outstanding features. The contributors shows how rapid social change gives rise to novel religious interpretations and how new religious movements, in turn, try to influence the process of change.