The New Wave of Cult-Talk: Academic Perspectives on Amanda Montell's Cultish (HarperCollins, 2021), Panel
Benjamin Zeller, Lake Forest College, Presiding
This panel brings scholars of religion together to discuss Amanda Montell's book Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism. It explores how Montell’s book reflects and is shaping popular interest in the concept of cults and spiritual-but-not-religious networks more broadly. Panelists, drawing on their research areas and projects, will give papers speaking to the argument, method, and goals of Cultish. The broader aim of the panel is to analyze the latest wave of “cult-talk” in relation to running academic debates. In particular, it considers two approaches to the category of cults. The first entails a discursive critique of the category. The second insists on the sociological distinction of cults built around charismatic authority, agency, and harm. Overall, we explore how the latest wave acknowledges the problems of the category but doesn’t let the critiques inhibit using it.
Panelists
Jeffrey Wheatley, Iowa State University
Susannah Crockford, Ghent University