This book analyses the revival of charismatic Protestant Christianity as an example of globalization. Simon Coleman shows that, along with many social movements, these religious conservatives are negotiating their own interpretations of global and postmodern processes. They are constructing an evangelical arena of action and meaning within the liminal, chaotic space of the global. The book examines globalization not only as a social process, but also as an embodied practice involving forms of language and ritualized movement. Charismatic Christianity is presented through its material culture - art, architecture and consumer products - as well as its rhetoric and theology. The book provides an account of the incorporation of electronic media such as television, videos and the Internet into Christian worship. Issues relating to the conduct of fieldwork in contexts of globalization are raised in an account which is also a major ethnography of a Faith ministry.
This book analyses the revival of charismatic Protestant Christianity as an example of globalization. Simon Coleman shows that, along with many social movements, these religious conservatives are negotiating their own interpretations of global and postmodern processes. They are constructing an evangelical arena of action and meaning within the liminal, chaotic space of the global. The book examines globalization not only as a social process, but also as an embodied practice involving forms of language and ritualized movement. Charismatic Christianity is presented through its material culture - art, architecture and consumer products - as well as its rhetoric and theology. The book provides an account of the incorporation of electronic media such as television, videos and the Internet into Christian worship. Issues relating to the conduct of fieldwork in contexts of globalization are raised in an account which is also a major ethnography of a Faith ministry.
Zusammenfassung
This book is about conservative Protestant Christians and their spread around the globe. It focusses on ‘Health and Wealth’ Christians. A ministry in Scandinavia is shown to be closely linked to evangelicals in other parts of the world, particularly the USA. The book provides an extended account by an anthropologist of a Health and Wealth ministry. It makes a major contribution to an understanding of the material lives of these Christians: their art, architecture and uses of electronic technologies such as television, videos and the Internet.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
List of illustrations; Acknowledgements; 1. A 'weird babel of tongues': charisma in the modern world; 2. 'Faith which conquers the world': globalisation and charisma; 3. Sweden: national 'state' and global 'site'; 4. The word of life: organising global culture; 5. Words: from narrative to embodiment; 6. Aesthetics: from iconography to architecture; 7. Broadcasting the faith; 8. Expansive agency; 9. Contesting the nation; 10. The word and the world; References; Index.
