New Age Products in Local and Global Contexts

Abstract

Based on empirical investigation of New Age goods in two different countries, I challenge the notion of a ‘global spiritual marketplace’. Similar markets of New Age goods do indeed exist in Israel and New Zealand, but these markets are not identical. In Israel, Judaism is a force that restricts trade in certain types of objects and at the same time expands the scope of the market to include others. Other factors that affect the market of New Age goods are related to the values that societies attribute to the cultural products of the ‘other’. I argue that the New Age is an open system that is manifested differently in each context. Contextual influences prioritise the acceptance of particular notions that are part of the New Age network, and these priorities in turn shape the market of New Age goods in each country. The paper's findings also illustrate that the New Age shop, especially in Israel, is a place where customers and shop owners negotiate their views. Many of these interactions are about the fit or lack of fit between global trends in the New Age subculture and its encounter with local ideologies.