Living in the New Age: the Mainstreaming of the Counterculture

• In Event: 40258 - Culture II: On Novelty and Transformation

Abstract

Over the past several decades, a cultural shift has taken place in the West. Expressive individualism, which valorizes authenticity and the expression of a ‘true self’, increasingly shapes individual action. Therapeutic cultures, in the larger context of neoliberal ideology, continue to grow and influence modern subjectivities. Individuals are increasingly identifying as spiritual, but not religious. How can we understand the growing cultural prominence and proliferation of ideas and practices once exclusively associated with a small group of countercultural forces?

This article takes stock of the evolution and legacy of the New Age movement by surveying the existing literature. It will demonstrate that its legacy can be traced by identifying an underlying cultural logic which has moved beyond the religious domain and diffused across the cultural mainstream. By examining the rise of New Age values and ideals, specifically a self-ethic and spirituality in the domains of medicine, business and education, this article argues that the appropriation of New Age scripts outside of the religious domain and into other domains has occurred due to three primary factors: the institutionalization of expressive individualism in the aftermath of the 1960s, the rise of the therapeutic self, and the rise of the neoliberal self.

This article contributes to existing literature by challenging accounts of the New Age movement, and more generally, spirituality, as an insignificant phenomenon. It will first provide an overview of the literature on the New Age movement. It will then examine the institutionalization and legitimization of New Age values. It will then demonstrate the spread of New Age ideology in 3 spheres of civil society: medicine, business, and education. Finally, it will examine the significance of these developments and provide directions for future research.

Author

• Sarah Badr, McGill University