Uncovering Embedded Stealth Subcultures Within Formal Institutions: The Case of Mainstream Meditation

• In Event: 545 - Section on Sociology of Culture Roundtable Session.
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 03. Levels of Culture

Abstract

I investigate how a contemporary meditation movement initiates broader cultural change by embedding cultural intervention programs in esteemed organizations located in various institutional fields. I examine how these meditators navigate multiple levels of culture in adroit ways to transmit meditation to these new secular audiences. First, they use a combination of multiple frames to legitimize meditation at the organizational and field levels, yet challenge taken for granted local interactional culture. These meditators use some cultural frames which couple their practices to organizational and field standards, missions, and values, while simultaneously using other cultural frames that decouple from and challenge local taken-for-granted cultural norms and habits. Contemplative meditators also set up intervention programs in niche spaces where they teach their ideology and values to new adopters within targeted organizations through various embodied practices. These practices are intended to intrapersonally transform participants and reorient them to how they treat themselves and others in their secular workplaces.

Author

• Jaime Kucinskas, Hamilton College