The Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements claims a “global” perspective that presents a sophisticated understanding of New Religious Movements (NRMs) that are varied in their sources, movements and manifestations in different places. In total there are over 300 entries written by more than 100 international academics. It is therefore an extensive and authoritative resource that challenges its single volume format.
The Encyclopedia contains entries about NRMs from every continent and derived from all world religions. It includes NRMs that readers will recognize and expect, such as NRMs often associated with the more general phenomena of the New Age Movement. It also includes less commonly covered NRMs in this field that originate from Islamic, Buddhist and Sikh sources. Each entry typically introduces the socio‐historical context in which an NRM emerged and developed, its main beliefs and practices, information about the founder and other notable persons, as well as how it organizes itself.
The Encyclopedia, however, offers much more than information about individual NRMs. Biographical entries provide basic facts about important individuals' birth, death and profession, along with a potted life history and an outline of their main teachings, writings or contribution to the NRM. More substantive entries discuss general themes in the study of NRMs, such as NRMs as a global phenomena, cyberspace, gender, law and violence. Other entries consider definitions and approaches to studying NRMs as well as umbrella terms like Neo‐Paganism, Protestant Buddhism, and of course the New Age Movement. Several entries review literature in different languages. These cover published work in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese and Portuguese (mostly in Brazil) and examine the key terms, academic questions and the work of prominent intellectuals. Finally, there are entries on research centres and a resource guide that explains the changing institutional focus away from counter‐cult criticism to non‐sectarian models of enquiry. Given that the Encyclopedia is intended for students and researchers in the field of religious studies and social sciences, it is these entries that add value to this resource.
The Encyclopedia is organized alphabetically, but all the entries and contributors are listed separately (pp. xxii‐xxxii) for ease of looking up an entry. The major entries are highlighted in italics. Unfortunately the Encyclopedia does not list NRMs under other alternate names by which they may be known, but the index (pp. 651‐686) does. The full index also cross‐references to other subjects and terms. In addition, besides listing all page references, the index conveniently highlights in bold the substantive page references for that topic. Individual entries also cross‐reference in bold to other subjects allowing the reader to fully explore a NRM or theme.
Unfortunately the bibliographical information provided in the Encyclopedia is poor. There are only short bibliographies at the end of each entry. At most there are usually only three references included. Neither are the bibliographies cumulated or a selective bibliography included at the end of the volume. This may have been one of the compromises of including so much information in one volume. Each entry is, however, signed and readers can follow‐up a subject by reading other work published by the contributor.
Overall the Encyclopedia is a valuable resource for students and researchers in the field. The breadth of information about NRMs is impressive along with the additional information about the study of NRMs. Its “global” perspective differentiates it from other reference resources currently available. Priced at £130, a library might want to consider how much value a one volume encyclopedia will add, especially if they have other multi‐volume holdings. It might be a good investment for a serious student or a researcher with a broad interest in this field.
