Chapter One. Religions Of Modernity: Relocating The Sacred To The Self And The Digital

Abstract

Max Weber's analysis of the progressive disenchantment of the modern world continues to evoke debate and arouse the intellectual imagination. Weber's narrative of the gradual disappearance of the metaphysical 'Hinterwelt' that once provided the Western world with solid meaning hardly needs to be introduced to sociologically informed readers. This book aims to study the social aspects of New Age spirituality by critically and systematically deconstructing the prevailing rhetoric of personal authenticity, documenting how spirituality is socially constructed, transmitted and reinforced, and how, why, and with what consequences it enters the public domain. One of the cornerstones of Weber's analysis of modernity is the notion that the disenchantment of the world inescapably aggravates problems of meaning. But New Age spirituality is not merely a psychological adaptation, it is also a cultural and religious transformation aimed at preventing loss of meaning. Keywords: modern world; modernity; New Age spirituality; religions