Communitasand Contestation in a university evangelical group: The liminal phase and levels of structure

Abstract

This article will attempt to reconcile Turner’s Communitas -based understanding of the liminal phase with the various forms of the Contestation Model propounded by his critics. It will argue that these models can, apparently, be reconciled if the given liminal phase is examined in terms of level and that this is most apparent when examining an initiation ritual rather than a pilgrimage. The article will draw upon detailed fieldwork with an evangelical student group operating in the highly liminal environment of Oxford University. It will demonstrate, notably in relation to the issue of social class, that each level of structure leads to communitas in which a further level of structure develops. Hence, it will be argued that there is concomitantly structure and anti-structure on each level of the multilayered university and university-evangelical-group experience. The article will appreciate that further research will of course be required to develop this idea theoretically and practically and will recomme...