New Religious Business Leaders: The New Generation of Leaders of Possession Cults in Gotonou (Benin) and Salvador (Brazil)
Type de matériel :
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The globalisation of commerce in today’s world can be interpreted as a vast religious market emerging from the Christian refor movements, the New Age movements and the revitalisation of cuits of possession. Facing neo-liberal type of competition, the leaders of cuits of possession transform themselves into true businessmen, offering not only magical therapeutic services, but also cultural and religious goods. By comparing two groups of cuit leaders based in Southern Benin and in Bahia (Brazil), the author demonstrates how in both cases, the leaders have responded to local and international social expectations and established their role as purveyors of goods and services, each according to their personal background. These young religious entrepreneurs use invented and inherited traditions or self acquired knowhow to establish the legitimacy of their social activities.
Réseaux sociaux