Diffusion and Social Relevance of New Age Spirituality

During the last decades, new forms of spirituality have become increasingly popular in all Western societies. Some sociologists have evaluated these phenomena as anti-modernist counter-reaction to the life-conditions in contemporary societies. Others consider the silent religious change as a by-product of the process of globalization and as a reflection of the cultural and social change towards post-modernity (characterized by individualism, reflexivity, spontaneity and consumerism). Meanwhile there exist a large number of empirical studies on this topic. Most of these studies are qualitative case studies or interview studies, focussing on single activities, New Age-fairs and/or the core-group of the new spiritual milieu. Relatively few efforts have been made to study the dissemination of the new spiritual beliefs and activities, and their impact on everyday life of the general population. In this project we intend to apply and to combine three methods in order to obtain a more comprehensive picture of the diffusion and social significance of the new spiritualities: a) a mapping of institutions and individual practitioners which offer activities in the new spiri-tual/esoteric field in selected micro-areas of Austria; b) qualitative interviews with New Age practitioners; c) a representative standardized questionnaire which will be fielded in Austria in connection with the international questionnaire of the International Social Survey Programme 2008 on Religion. Our main research questions will be the following: 1) What are the new forms of religion and spirituality? Which social milieus and socio-demographic groups exhibit a higher affinity towards (specific) New Age-activities? 2) Which are the motivations for involvement in new spiritual activities and how are these activities inscribed in their practitioners everyday life? 3) Which interactions and modes of collaboration take place in the new spiritual field? 4) Is there a common set of values and lifestyles associated with these practices? Are there distinguishable sub- milieus within the new spiritual field? In which way do the new spiritual activists differ from traditionally religious persons and from the general population? 5) Do the new forms of spirituality emerge in similar ways in all highly developed Western countries? If there exist differences in this regard, by which factors can they be explained (socio-economic development, level of secularization, type of religious culture, etc.)?

During the last decades, new forms of spirituality have become increasingly popular in all Western societies. Some sociologists have evaluated these phenomena as anti-modernist counter-reaction to the life-conditions in contemporary societies. Others consider the silent religious change as a by-product of the process of globalization and as a reflection of the cultural and social change towards post-modernity (characterized by individualism, reflexivity, spontaneity and consumerism). Meanwhile there exist a large number of empirical studies on this topic. Most of these studies are qualitative case studies or interview studies, focussing on single activities, New Age-fairs and/or the core-group of the new spiritual milieu. Relatively few efforts have been made to study the dissemination of the new spiritual beliefs and activities, and their impact on everyday life of the general population. In this project we intend to apply and to combine three methods in order to obtain a more comprehensive picture of the diffusion and social significance of the new spiritualities: a) a mapping of institutions and individual practitioners which offer activities in the new spiritual/esoteric field in selected micro-areas of Austria; b) qualitative interviews with New Age practitioners; c) a representative standardized questionnaire which will be fielded in Austria in connection with the international questionnaire of the International Social Survey Programme 2008 on Religion. Our main research questions will be the following: 1. What are the new forms of religion and spirituality? Which social milieus and socio-demographic groups exhibit a higher affinity towards (specific) New Age-activities? 2. Which are the motivations for involvement in new spiritual activities and how are these activities inscribed in their practitioners? everyday life? 3. Which interactions and modes of collaboration take place in the new spiritual field? 4. Is there a common set of values and lifestyles associated with these practices? Are there distinguishable sub- milieus within the new spiritual field? In which way do the new spiritual activists differ from traditionally religious persons and from the general population? 5. Do the new forms of spirituality emerge in similar ways in all highly developed Western countries? If there exist differences in this regard, by which factors can they be explained (socio-economic development, level of secularization, type of religious culture, etc.)?