This thesis focuses on the definition of terms charisma and charismatic authority and its application in new religious movements (NRMs) studies. The first part of the thesis is rather generally oriented and provides a commentary review of the most famous approaches to charisma. In the end, the discussion about various theories of charisma results in its definition from the perspective of Religious Studies. This definition is applied in the second part of this paper afterwards. Second part introduces intricate history of term NRMs and its semantics including sociological typology. Furthermore, it is argued that NRMs are charismatic movements and the author suggests a model of charismatisation degree inside NRMs. These claims head towards the deconstruction of relationship between charismatic leader and his followers. The inner dynamics of charismatisation process is stressed. By referring to problematics of origin, constitution and maintaining charisma within NRMs, this thesis proves that charisma is a relatively common, social and dialectical phenomenon.

The thesis deals with religious sects in Czechoslovakia in the 1950s. Firstly, it describes new religious movements, which occurred in Czechoslovakia in the first half of the 20th century, especially Jehovah's Witnesses, Adventism, Mormonism and the others. The key theme of this thesis is the phenomenon of religious sects. It explores a procedure of the government, Communist party of Czechoslovakia and State Security. The thesis deals also with the conscientious objection in Czechoslovakia in the 1950s. In conclusion the thesis tries to describe the image of religious sects in newspapers. It draws from various primary sources (National Archives of the Czech Republic, Security Services Archive, Military History Archive) and from various historiographical and sociological literature.

In this diploma thesis the verbal persuasive devices typical of two new religious movements' texts (Jehovah's Witnesses and New Age) have been analysed, with regard to manipulation. Because of the interdisciplinary character of manipulation religion and sociological aspects in new religious movements section and logical, psychological and ethical aspects in manipulative argumentation section have been considered. It was found that the style of the analysed texts and its verbal persuasive devices differ from the field of religious communication only in few aspects from verbal persuasive devices of journalistic communication and that manipulative devices are partly acceptable with regard to the sources and methods involved in the texts, however, the field of quasiargumentation have been found outside acceptability.

This thesis is based on ethnographic data collected across two Mormon congregations in the Republic of Ireland. I explore the experiences of a religious minority who are part of a wider society experiencing rapid religious and social change. Engaging with concepts of tradition, continuity, and change, this research explores how members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints experience their status as a minority religion in modern Ireland. As part of a growing number of new religious movements in Ireland, Mormonism represents a simultaneous continuation and rupture of Ireland’s previous religious traditions. This research suggests that a continuing influence of Catholicism in Irish society shapes Irish Mormon perceptions of self, of others, and of faith. Yet, by identifying with a religion which is viewed in Ireland as a ‘foreign’ faith, Irish Mormons represent a clear break with previous religious tradition. Irish Mormons’ relationship with Mormonism as a global religion also demonstrates the complexity of continuity and change within modern religion. This research shows that Irish Mormons reject what they perceive as an Americanisation of Mormonism and often emphasise the uniquely Irish nature of Mormonism in Ireland. Thus, Irish Mormons are adapting Mormon tradition into new forms far from the Mormon heartland of Utah. This research concludes that Mormons in Ireland utilise complex and interconnected understandings of tradition, community, and Irishness to create and maintain a minority religious identity in modern Ireland.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, the Chechens fought against the Russians for independence. The focus in the literature available has been on the wars and the atrocities caused by the wars. The literature then hypothesizes that the insurgency of today is just a continuation of the past. They do not focus on a major event in Chechen history: the Soviet liquidation of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1944. It is this author’s assertion that the liquidation of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR forever changed the mindset of the people because it fractured a society that was once unified. This project will compare the Chechen insurgency from the beginnings until the deportation and after the deportation. This will allow me to show how the deportation changed the Chechen mindset and disprove the assertion that these two Chechen wars were just a continuation of the past.

This thesis explores the use of identity politics within the atheist movement at both the national and individual levels. I conducted a content analysis of two national atheist groups and three best-selling atheist authors in order to assess the use of atheist identity politics at the national level. I then conducted 15 in-depth interviews with a sample of atheists in Portland, Oregon about their atheist identity and their reactions to and identification with national atheist movement strategies. Findings suggest that national atheist organizations and atheist authors are using a strategy of identity politics that encourage atheists to "come out" as atheists, complain about church/state violations, and criticize religion's influence in American society. They liken their movement to the gay identity movement and argue that as more atheists "come out", they will see less stigma and more respect towards atheists. However, individual atheists do not always identify with these movement strategies. Most participants said that atheism is not a particularly salient identity for them and thus most did not see themselves participating in atheist activism. Further, they implied that they experience little stigma in their everyday lives and are more concerned with promoting religious tolerance and secular policies. I argue that the lack of social identification with atheism, combined with limits to the gay analogy, are likely inhibitors to the success of an atheist movement.

Humor has long been an effective way to engage difficult sociopolitical topics in a way that avoids polemical confrontation and provides opportunity for pleasure, catharsis and self-knowledge. In the context of today’s polarized politics and protest, creative satirical performance that deploys “symbolic tinkering” can provide a “comic frame of reference” that, according to Kenneth Burke, more effectively conveys its message while providing reflexive insight. The satirical Church of the SubGenius naturally practices this rhetorical frame in their multimedia creations. Using the lens of Burke’s Attitudes Toward History, this essay is an analysis of SubGenius rhetoric with a focus on their Hour of Slack live radio program and the book Revelation X to provide an informative example of Burke’s comic frame applied, and clarify the nature of its utility by exploring the rhetorical impact of the Church of the SubGenius and the relevance of its “comic corrective.” Politically cynical, SubGenii are nevertheless keen cultural critics whose sophisticated use of a complex comic rhetoric warrants more serious attention.

The previous research in the field of new religious movements has mostly focused on the spectacular parts where phenomena such as “brainwashing” and the “charismatic leader” have attracted both media and the scientific studies of religion. Professor Liselotte Frisks has done several enquiries about sects and new religious movements in Sweden. One of her main conclusions is that the relation between these new religious movements and the rest of society has changed; a relation that used to be characterized by conflicts and tension is now becoming more open as both parts are changing. This study does not focus on the spectacular parts. Instead I have studied something more common and general. I have studied how members from new religious movements are apprehending subjects as school and education. I have chosen two well-known religious movements: the church of Scientology and the Family Federation of World Peace and Unification. My comprehensive purpose is to analyze the members' opinions and views, to see whether their ideas are on terms with what the majority says or if it differs from the norm. My conclusion is that the members of the Church of Scientology criticize the Swedish school system. They find it too theoretical and believe that there is not enough focus on aspects such as word-understanding. The Church of Scientology has their own pedagogy which is based on word-understanding. The members of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification shared the opinion of the majority to a larger extent, as they did not prescribe such harsh critics about the school. However, they do believe that the school has to take a huge responsibility raising the students since many young people of today come from broken families. Strong families are one of the corner pillars of this movement.

Fyra stycken lärares beskrivningar om hur de undervisar och definierar nyreligiositet och nya religiösa rörelser har studerats i föreliggande uppsats. Syftet med studien är att undersöka vad verksamma religionskunskapslärare på högstadiet säger att de undervisar om i undervisningen kring nyreligiositet och nyreligiösa rörelser. En kvalitativ metod med semistrukturerade intervjuer har använts för att få fram data till studien. Teorier om didaktiskt innehåll och undervisning som meningserbjudande har använts vid analysen av resultatet.   Uppsatsen utgår från tre stycken frågeställningar om hur definierar religionskunskapslärare begreppen nyreligiositet och nyreligiösa rörelser, om vad beskriver religionskunskapslärare att de undervisar kring nyreligiositet och nyreligiösa rörelser och hur beskriver lärare att de arbetar kring nyreligiositet och nyreligiösa rörelser i undervisningen?   Resultatet i studien visar att lärarna har problem med att definiera begreppet nyreligiositet, vilket kan vara en orsak till att området får en marginell plats i religionskunskapsundervisningen. Lärarna anser att kursplanen är den viktigaste faktorn i urvalet av undervisningsinnehåll, men skyller på att tiden är för knapp för att hinna med allt. Eleverna är ofta delaktiga i planeringen och urvalet av undervisningsinnehållet i området nyreligiositet och nya religiösa rörelser. / In this essay, the teaching on the subjects new religiousness and new religious movements and the definition of these subjects have been studied amongst four teachers. The aim of the study is to examine how religion teachers in secondary school say they teach the subjects. The data has been collected by semi-structured interviews, which is a qualitative method of data gathering. Theories on didactic content and teaching as provider of meaning have been used during the analysis of the result.   The essay is based on three questions about how the teacher defines the terms new religiousness and new religious movements, what the teachers include in his or her teaching on the subjects, and how the teachers describes his or her teachings on the subjects.   The result of the study shows that the teachers have problems defining the terms new religiousness, which may be one reason why the subject is neglected during the teaching on religion. The teachers think that the curriculum is the most important factor in the selection of content in their teaching, but blames time as the most important factor when they decide to focus on other content. The students are often involved in the planning and when selecting content in the area of new religiousness and new religious movements.

This thesis examines the discursive position of 'goddess feminism', in relation to some of the difference- and eco feminist positions from the1960s and until today. In focus are the texts of the two goddess feminists, Monica Sjöö and Starhawk. The thesis contributes to a historiographical (re)situating of their political and religious narratives. It also contributes to an elaborated understanding of these goddess feminists and the goddess feminist discourse they are part of. The tentative feminist figuration 'the goddess identified feminist’ is articulated as a tool to discuss the religious and political discourse of goddess feminists as part of contemporary feminist and environmental political conversations and practices. Donna Haraway’s and Karen Barad’s post humanist theoretical interventions are used to explore and discuss the affinities between goddess feminists (re)negotiation of the subject/s 'goddess/nature/human' – and the (re)negotiation of 'nature/human’ made by new materialist/post humanist difference- and eco feminists of the 2000s. Rosi Braidotti’s writings on sexual difference, becoming and feminist figurations further informs the conclusions drawn in the thesis. Drawing on the methodological approaches of Clare Hemmings and Mieke Bal in the analysis of story-telling and subject construction, a contribution is also made, to the understanding of how story-telling as part of a discourse, produces meaning and asymmetric subject relations. In particular the thesis shows how a compassionate feminist storytelling involuntarily produces subject positions through, essentialist dualisms, hierarchical ordering and othering. In parallel, the thesis also discusses alternative narrative strategies that focus on both the discursive boarders and affinities. / Baksidestext: Det här är en bok om två gudinnefeminister och deras religiösa och politiska berättande. Men det är lika mycket en bok om ’gudinnefeminism’ och hur denna feministiska position relaterar till, skiljer sig från och överlappar med andra skillnads- och ekofeministiska positioner från 1960-talet och till idag. Magdalena Raivios doktorsavhandling omförhandlar historien om ’gudinne-feminism’. Den synliggör även innehållet i Monica Sjöös och Starhawks berättelser om samhället, gudinnan/naturen/människan, framtiden och revolu-tionen. Här visas hur problematiska generaliseringar och uppdelningar i ”vi” och ”de andra” skapas i berättandet – men att Sjöö och Starhawk även vidgar och omförhandlar innebörden av begrepp som ’kvinna’ och ’natur’. En feministisk figuration kallad ’den gudinneidentifierade feministen’ används som tentativ utgångspunkt för nutida samtal om feministiska och miljöpolitiska visioner och för-ändringsstrategier. Avhandlingens resultat styrker tidigare forskning som visat att ett ”feministiskt medkännande berättande” – trots sin välmenta ambition – ofrivilligt medverkar i skapandet av diskursiva gränser, hierarkier och generaliseringar. Som ett teoretiskt bidrag, formuleras och diskuteras här några skillnadsfeministiska ansatser till alternativa berättandestrategier.