Identification of new religious movements in Belarusian science

  • Vladimir A. Martinovich Minsk Theological Academy, 27 Zybiсkaja Street, Minsk 220030, Belarus

Abstract

This article is devoted to the analysis of the process of identification of new religions in Belarusian science. Based on a representative sample of 798 published works by scientists dealing with the topic of new religious movements, the following are analysed: the institutionally determined specificity of scientists’ reactions to the phenomenon of non-traditional religiosity; the distribution of subjects of identification of new religions by scientific disciplines; the configuration of religious organisations identified by scientists in the Republic of Belarus in the period from 1988 to 2020. Special attention is paid to the identification of sectors of the confessional milieu of Belarus that are not covered by the attention of scientists, the analysis of the structural and substantive characteristics of new religions that fall into the focus of scientists’ attention. A number of promising areas of analysis of the stated topic are clarified, as well as its significance for the development of a comprehensive model of society’s reactions to non-traditional religiosity. The social identification of religious organisations with one of the types of religiosity is among the most significant indicators of the reaction of social institutions to religious diversity. Different institutions of society identify different configurations of new religious movements in accordance with their internal norms and standards for evaluating the confessional milieu.

Author Biography

Vladimir A. Martinovich, Minsk Theological Academy, 27 Zybiсkaja Street, Minsk 220030, Belarus

doctor of science (theology), PhD (sociology); head of the department of apologetics

References

  1. Stone D. On knowing how we know about the new religions. In: Needleman J, Baker GP, editors. Understanding the new religions. New York: The Seabury Press; 1978. p. 141–152.
  2. Zablocki B, Robbins T, editors. Misunderstanding cults. Searching for objectivity in a controversial field. Toronto: University of Toronto Press; 2001. 524 p.
  3. Richardson JT, Balch R, Melton JG. Problems of research and data in the study of new religions. In: Bromley DG, Hadden JK. The handbook on cults and sects in America. Volume 3, part B. Greenwich: JAI Press; 1993. p. 213–229.
  4. Robbins T. The transformative impact of the study of new religions on the sociology of religion. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1988;27(1):12–31. DOI: 10.2307/1387399.
  5. Robbins T. «Quo vadis?» the scientific study of new religious movements? Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 2000;39(4):515–523. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-5906.2000.tb00013.x.
  6. Arweck E. Researching new religious movements. Responses and redefinitions. London: Routledge; 2006. 398 p.
  7. Jenkins P. Mystics and messiahs. Cults and new religions in American history. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2000. 294 p.
  8. Martinovich VA. Methodological problems of religious diversity research. Journal of the Belarusian State University. Sociology. 2022;3:92–102. Russian. DOI: 10.33581/2521-6821-2022-3-92-102.
  9. Beck U. Der eigene Gott. Von der Friedensfähigkeit und dem Gewaltpotential der Religionen. Frankfurt am Main: Verlag der Weltreligionen; 2008. 275 S.
  10. Danilov AN. Vlast’ i obshchestvo: poisk novoi garmonii [Power and society: the search for a new harmony]. Minsk. Universitetskoe; 1998. 575 p. Russian.
  11. Elsykov AN. Philosophsko-sotsiologischeskii brikolazh [Philosophical and sociological bricolage]. Minsk: Knizhnyi dom; 2011. 480 p. Russian.
  12. Mashitko OV. Lingvistischeskie zakonomernosti funktsionirovaniya ideologii v sovremennoi kulture [Linguistic patterns of ideology functioning in modern culture]. Minsk: Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts; 2015. 236 p. Russian.
  13. Martinovich VA. Identification of new religious movements in the practice of editorial offices and journalists of print media. Vestnik Instituta sotsiologii RAN. 2022;13(1):67–85. Russian. DOI: 10.19181/vis.2022.13.1.774.
  14. Martinovich VA. Perception of new religious movements by the religious organizations of the Republic of Belarus. Vestnik RUDN. Sociology. 2023;23(4):74–88. Russian. DOI: 10.22363/2313-2272-2023-23-1-74-88.
  15. Stark R, Bainbridge WS. The future of religion. Secularisation, revival and cult formation. Berkeley: University of California Press; 1985. 572 p.
Published
2023-08-22
Keywords: sociology of religion, social identification of religious organisations, new religious movements, unconventional religiosity, new religions
How to Cite
Martinovich, V. A. (2023). Identification of new religious movements in Belarusian science. Journal of the Belarusian State University. Sociology, 2, 57-66. Retrieved from https://journals.bsu.by/index.php/sociology/article/view/5618
Issue
No 2 (2023): Journal of the Belarusian State University. Sociology
Section
Reflections on a given topic

Copyright (c) 2023 Journal of the Belarusian State University. Sociology

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

The authors who are published in this journal agree to the following:

  1. The authors retain copyright on the work and provide the journal with the right of first publication of the work on condition of license Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial. 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
  2. The authors retain the right to enter into certain contractual agreements relating to the non-exclusive distribution of the published version of the work (e.g. post it on the institutional repository, publication in the book), with the reference to its original publication in this journal.
  3. The authors have the right to post their work on the Internet (e.g. on the institutional store or personal website) prior to and during the review process, conducted by the journal, as this may lead to a productive discussion and a large number of references to this work. (See The Effect of Open Access.)