Bounded choice : true believers and charismatic cults / Janja Lalich.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lalich, Janja.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Heaven's Gate (Organization).

Democratic Workers Party (San Francisco, Calif.).

Cults--Psychology.

Cults.

Brainwashing.

Physical Description:

xxiv, 329 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, [2004]

Summary:

Heaven's Gate, a secretive group of celibate "monks" awaiting pickup by a UFO, captured intense public attention in 1997 when its members committed collective suicide. As a way of understanding such perplexing events, many have come to see those who join such cults as needy, lost souls, unable to think for themselves. This book, a compelling look at the cult phenomenon written for a wide audience, dispels such simple formulations by explaining how normal, intelligent people can give up years of their lives -- and sometimes their very lives -- to groups and beliefs that appear bizarre and irrational. Looking closely at Heaven's Gate and at the Democratic Workers Party, a radical political group of the 1970s and 1980s, Janja Lalich gives us a rare insider's look at these two cults and advances a new theoretical framework that will reshape our understanding of those who join such groups.

Lalich's fascinating discussion includes her in-depth interviews with cult devotees as well as reflections gained from her own experience as a high-ranking member of the Democratic Workers Party. Incorporating classical sociological concepts such as "charisma" and "commitment" with more recent work on the social psychology of influence and control, she develops a new approach for understanding how charismatic cult leaders are able to dominate their devotees. She shows how members are led into a state of "bounded choice," in which they make seemingly irrational decisions within a context that makes perfect sense to them and is, in fact, consistent with their highest aspirations. In addition to illuminating the cult phenomenon in the United States and around the world, this important book also addresses our pressing need to know more about the mentality of those true believers who take extreme or violent measures in the name of a cause.

Contents:

1. Introduction: Cults and True Believers 1

Definitional Issues 3

Cults in the Headlines 8

The Bounded Choice Perspective 14

The Comparative Research Project 19

Part 1 Heaven's Gate

2. Gurus, Seers, and New Agers 25

Entering Heaven's Gate 26

Formative Principles 31

Sociocultural Influences 32

Religious and Spiritual Influences 34

Technologies of Change 37

3. The Beginning: "The Two" Arrive 42

The Formative Years 42

4. Evolution of the Charismatic Community 63

Consolidating the Membership 63

5. Denouement 91

The Death of Nettles 91

Going and Staying Underground 93

Leaving the Human Level 95

Part 2 The Democratic Workers Party

6. Revolutionaries, Rebels, and Activists 113

Historical and Ideological Influences 114

Sociocultural Influences 118

The Emergence of the New Communist Movement 121

A Typical Recruit 123

A Convergence of Forces for a New Party 124

7. The Founding of the Democratic Workers Party 126

The Arrival of a Leader 126

8. The Cadre Formation 149

The Formation of the Party 149

9. Decline and Fall 193

The Glory Days 195

The Unraveling 202

The Failure of Bounded Choice 206

Part 3 Theoretical Perspective

10. The True Believer: The Fusion of Personal Freedom and Self-Renunciation 221

The Significance of the Social Context 221

Structures of Freedom and Constraint 222

The Bounded Reality of the True Believer 233

11. Bounded Choice: Cult Formation and the Development of the True Believer 247

Bounded Choice in Relation to Other Conformity Theories 247

Cult Formation: The Self-Sealing Social System 251

The Social Psychology of the Individual Change Process 254

The Limited Choices of the True Believer 257

Bounded Choice as a Larger Social Phenomenon 261.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 275-315) and index.

ISBN:

0520231945

0520240189

OCLC:

54046983