With a focus on minority religions, the book offers a comparative overview of the concept of religious fraud by bringing together analyses of different types of fraud or deception (financial, bio-medical, emotional, breach of trust and consent). Contributors examine whether fraud is necessarily intentional (or whether that is in the eye of the beholder); certain structures may be more conducive to fraud; followers willingly participate in it. The volume includes some chapters focused on non-Western beliefs (Juju, Occult Economies, Dharma Lineage), which have travelled to the West and can be found in North American and European metropolitan areas.
Amanda van Eck Duymaer van Twist is the deputy director of Inform, a non-profit information centre specializing in minority religious and fringe political movements, based at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Her research on the second generation of sectarian movements and the impact their segregated childhoods have had, is due to be published. Further publications include an article entitled ‘Beliefs in Possession’ in The Devil’s Children. From Spirit Possession to Witchcraft: New Allegations That Affect Children, edited by Inform’s research fellow Emeritus Professor Jean la Fontaine (2009), and ‘Children in New Religions: Contested Duties of Care’, Journal of the International Society for the Study of New Religious Movements 1(2): 25-48 (2010).