Cool Christianity: The Fashion-Celebrity-Megachurch Industrial Complex

In this article, I analyze the ways in which fashion, megachurches, and celebrity and youth cultures coalesce in the 21st century, giving rise to the phenomenon of “Cool Christianity.” I contend that this repackaged Christianity, directed at the middle-class Millennials and Generation Z, is created...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Rocha, Cristina (Autor)
Tipo de documento: Electrónico Artículo
Lenguaje:Inglés
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Publicado: Taylor & Francis 2021
En: Material religion
Año: 2021, Volumen: 17, Número: 5, Páginas: 580-602
(Cadenas de) Palabra clave estándar:B Australien / Brasil / Hillsong Church / Cultura juvenil
B Megaiglesia / Celebridad / Diseño de moda / Cultura juvenil / Comercialización
Clasificaciones IxTheo:CB Existencia cristiana
CH Cristianismo y sociedad
KBR América Latina
KBS Australia
KDG Iglesia libre
KHD Otras Iglesias  
Otras palabras clave:B Hillsong
B Celebrities
B Fashion
B youth cultures
B Megachurches
B aesthetic formations
Acceso en línea: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Descripción
Sumario:In this article, I analyze the ways in which fashion, megachurches, and celebrity and youth cultures coalesce in the 21st century, giving rise to the phenomenon of “Cool Christianity.” I contend that this repackaged Christianity, directed at the middle-class Millennials and Generation Z, is created not only by megachurches in a bid to attract new generations, as it is usually argued. It is also produced by celebrities, the fashion industry, and young Christian entrepreneurs. I argue that this assemblage of different elements generates a “Fashion-Celebrity-Megachurch industrial complex” that makes Christianity attractive to middle-class youth who do not find a home in more conservative churches that reject youth cultures. I show that this industrial complex creates an “aesthetic formation” that bonds and binds particularly young people as they transition into adulthood. I also demonstrate that because Cool Christianity is a relatively new aesthetic style, it becomes highly visible and needs to be negotiated with older styles of Christianity. This paper draws on six years of multi-sited fieldwork with the Australian megachurch Hillsong in Australia and Brazil, and monitoring and analyzing media reports on this church, its many social media accounts, and how followers interacted with them.
ISSN:1751-8342
Obras secundarias:Enthalten in: Material religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/17432200.2021.1996942