Trajectories to the New Age. The Spiritual Turn of the First Generation of Dutch New Age Teachers

Abstract Most studies on New Age spirituality remain overly descriptive and lack solid, empirically grounded historical-sociological explanations for its increasing popularity since the counter culture of the 1960s and 1970s. In this article we therefore study the motivations of the ‘first generation’ spiritual seekers to turn to the New Age on the basis of 42 qualitative in-depth interviews with Dutch New Age teachers that grew up in the counter culture. The analysis demonstrates that they were motivated by discontents about Christian churches and modern work organizations, especially in the... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Otterloo, A.H. (Anneke) van
Aupers, S.D. (Stef)
Houtman, D. (Dick)
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2010
Schlagwörter: Christian tradition / New Age / counter culture / modern work / spirituality
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-29035528
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : http://repub.eur.nl/pub/21876

Abstract Most studies on New Age spirituality remain overly descriptive and lack solid, empirically grounded historical-sociological explanations for its increasing popularity since the counter culture of the 1960s and 1970s. In this article we therefore study the motivations of the ‘first generation’ spiritual seekers to turn to the New Age on the basis of 42 qualitative in-depth interviews with Dutch New Age teachers that grew up in the counter culture. The analysis demonstrates that they were motivated by discontents about Christian churches and modern work organizations, especially in the field of social care. Due to the countercultural emphasis on individual liberty, our respondents experienced both institutions as ‘meaningless’ and ‘alienating’ and felt attracted to the promises of humanistic self-spirituality and holism. In the conclusion we speculate on how and why the young, “second generation” New Agers turns to spirituality nowadays and in what ways their motivations differ from the first generation. --- Abstract in French Le plupart des études sur la spiritualité Nouvel Âge reste trop descriptive et manque des solides explications historiques et sociologiques empiriquement fondées pour sa popularité croissante depuis la contre-culture des années 1960 et 1970. Dans cet article donc, nous étudions les motivations de la ‘première génération’ de chercheurs spirituels à se tourner vers le Nouvel Âge. Nous le faisons sur la base de 42 interviews qualitatifs approfondis avec des enseignants néerlandais nouvel âge, qui ont grandis dans la contre-culture et de nos jours s’occupent activement avec la propagation du discours de la spiritualité. L'analyse montre qu'ils ont été principalement motivée par le mécontentement à propos traditionnelles églises chrétiennes, d'une part et les organisations modernes du travail de l'autre. En raison de l'accent mis en général sur les valeurs de liberté individuelle, nos répondants ont vu les deux institutions comme ‘vides de sens’ et ‘aliénants’; ils de plus en plus ...