RT Article
T1 Using Communications Theory to Explore Emergent Organisation in Pagan Culture
JF Journal for the academic study of religion
VO 24
IS 2
SP 150
OP 174
A1 Coco, Angela
LA English
PB Equinox Publ.
YR 2011
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1846001250
AB Pagan culture presents a paradoxical case to the traditional frameworks and methodologies social scientists have used to describe religious organisation. A key factor influencing Paganism’s emergence has been its adoption of online communications. Such communications provide a means of coordinating activities in and between networks accommodating diverse beliefs and practices and the ability to avoid overarching hierarchical organisation. These characteristics have led theorists to label Paganism as a postmodern religion, signalling the possibility of a different kind of social organisation from that evidenced in modern religions. Karaflogka (2003) distinguishes between two aspects of the move online, religion in cyberspace and religion on the Internet. While the Internet may be an online place for cybercovens and for performing cyber rituals, the analysis in this paper focuses on the interweaving of online and offline communicative practices. I suggest that communications theories, as outlined in Wenger’s ‘communities of practice’ model (1998) and Taylor and Van Every’s (2000) communications mapping, afford frameworks for exploring the inter-connectedness of online/offline interactions and a means of identifying emergent organisation in the Pagan movement. The analysis focuses on a particular feature of Pagan organisation, the accommodation of both group-oriented and solitary pagans.
K1 Pagan
K1 Pagan organisation
K1 Communication Theory
K1 Information and communication technologies
K1 postmodern religion
DO 10.1558/arsr.v24i2.150