Shoppers in the Spiritual Supermarket: A Quantitative Study of Visitors to Scandinavia's Largest Alternative Fair
Presenting data from a quantitative survey (N=362) at The Great Alternative Fair' in Lillestrøm, Norway, this article explores the demographic and religious profiles of the customers' in the spiritual marketplace'. Many adhere to ideas that are historically associated with differen...
| Published in: | Journal of contemporary religion |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Carfax Publ.
[2016]
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| In: |
Journal of contemporary religion
|
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Lillestrøm
/ Event
/ Alternative movement
/ Spiritual movement
/ User studies
|
| Further subjects: | B
alternative religion
B Spirituality B alternative fairs B New Age B Norway B spiritual marketplace B Quantitative methods |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | Presenting data from a quantitative survey (N=362) at The Great Alternative Fair' in Lillestrøm, Norway, this article explores the demographic and religious profiles of the customers' in the spiritual marketplace'. Many adhere to ideas that are historically associated with different religious traditions. At the same time, there are strong positive statistical correlations between belief in alternative ideas, such as healing, reincarnation, channelling, and clairvoyance. This indicates that such ideas constitute a clustered and shared set of beliefs. Against this background, the article questions the widely held assumption that people who are oriented towards alternative spiritualities are independent of institutions and authorities and it argues that they are informed to a large extent by a set of collective resources. It is suggested that the marketplace, which constitutes a common framework of interaction, plays a key role in connecting various ideas and actors and in creating a common ideological profile. |
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| ISSN: | 1469-9419 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of contemporary religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/13537903.2016.1109875 |