Review: [untitled]

Author(s): Tanice G. Foltz

Source: Contemporary Sociology, Vol. 29, No. 6 (Nov., 2000), pp. 840-842
Published by: American Sociological Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2654107 .
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840 Ideology and Cultural Production

life.Bothsidesthusfell intofeelingtrapscaused guisewhatis in factthe author'sattachment to

by their own unacknowledged moralambivaS a liberalideologyof consensus.Whatdistresses
lence,leadingthetnto dig in theirheels,exagS Grovesis neitherthe instrumental domination
geratetheiropponents'evils, and escalatethe of otherspeciesbeings(the activists'view),nor
conflict. the activists'threatto progress (the researchers'
Grovesshowshow unproductive shamecan view), but, rather,conflictqua conflict.The
be, emotionally andpolitically,andhe usefully book'saim is to show"howthe conflictmight
highlights thisproblematic featureof somepostS have been diffused"(p. 30). Yet what social
1960ssocialmovements. He alsohelpfullyoverS movementseeksto "diffuse" the veryissueit has
turnssome stereotypeswhen he shows that struggled so mightilyto bringto publicawareS
animalrightsactivistswerenot "antiSscience,"ness?Isn'tthe raisond'etreof socialmovements
andstrivedto appearrational(whilethe scienS to troublethe conscience,andto challengepreS
tists,ironically,triedto presentthemselvesas rogatives of power?
emotionallyvulnerable).However,while the Infact,this"controversy" reflectsnot merely
jacketcover describesthis book as a "fineS a breakdown ofcivility,buta struggle oversocial
grainedethnography," it is bestdescribed assecS meanings andinstitutions concerning the worth
ondSratejournalism.A lack of theoretical of nonhuman life, the purposes of science,and
sophisticationafflictsthe text, as when the the relationship between knowledge and power.
authorturnsfirstto DeborahTannen'spopularS Theseareimportant issues,andthe authorilluS
izedworksforinsightintogenderissues,refersto minatesthemonlydimly.
socialmovements as"special interestgroups" (p. References
73), or makessexistcommentsabouthis inforS Benton,Ted. 1993.NaturalRelations:Ecology,Animal
mants(describing onewomanas"dressed scantS RightsandSocialJustice.London:Verso.
ily in black lacy clothes," another as Donovan, Josephine and Carol Adams, eds. 1996.
''matronly'').Hisobservations aremostlyunderS BeyondAnimalRights:A FeministCaringEthicfor
whelming(e.g., that the scientistssaw themS theTreatment of Animals.New York:Continuum.
selvesin heroicand paternalistic terms,while Horkheimer,Max, and Theodor W. Adorno. 1993.
the activists saw themselves as rebels). Dialectic of Enlighte7lme7lt. Trans. by John
Sociologistswill be surprised, meanwhile,to Cumming.New York:Continuum.Firstpublished
as Dialektikder Aufklarung(New York: Social
learn that "politicaland civil rightsare no StudiesAssociation,1944).
longerrestricted byraceandgender" (p. 1).
Evenon the issueof emotions,the studyfails
to satisfy,sinceGrovesneglectsto explainwhy
he privilegesshameover other emotions.He
notesin passingthatthe activistsweremotivatS
ed chieflybyempathyforthe animals,yet doesS - -
n'tconsiderhowthisaffectshislargerargument.
Nordoeshe makemucheffortto situatehisown
findingsvisSaSvis thoseof otherresearchers.
The mainproblem,though,is thatGroves's A Communityof Witches:Contemporary Neo-
paradigm of "feelingtraps" doesnotdojusticeto Paganismand Witchcraftin the UnitedStates,by
the sociologicalcomplexitiesat hand. While Helen A. Berger. Columbia:Universityof
emotionsareclearlyimportant to understandingSouth CarolinaPress,1999. 148 pp. $24.95
society,heretheyprovea pooranalytical substiS cloth.ISBN:1S57003S246S7.
tuteforequallyvitalcategories-likepower,the TANICE G. FOLTZ
state,classinterest,or patriarchy (all of which Indfiana University Northwest
areneglected).
The narrowness of the workcan perhapsbe HelenBerger's A Communityof Witchessetsout
explainedvia Groves'srepeatedintimationsof to locatethecontemporary Witchcraft andNeoS
discomfortwith his subject.His own moral Paganism movementasa religionof latemoderS
ambivalence leadshimto feignneutrality, hence nity using Anthony Giddens'sstructuration
to eschewthe normative questionof "howpeoS theory.In 11 yearsof field researchin the
ple shouldfeel"(p. vii) aboutanimalresearch. Northeastern United States,she concentrated
Thisputativeobjectivity,however,failsto disS on EarthSpiritCommunity, a genderSinclusive
 Ideology and Cultural Production 841

teachingcoven. She attendedPaganfestivals andadministrative staff,aswellasa standardiza-

andrituals,readPaganjournals, visitedInternet tion of rituals.Becausethisis a religioncharac-
web sites,conductedover 100 interviews,and terizedby a spontaneity of religiousexpression
distributed a PaganCensus.Her 2000 respon- andlackof centralized bureaucracy, itsmembers
dentsconfirmed thata largeproportion of mem- largelyresistthese changes.She suggeststwo
bersarewhite,female,middle-class, andcollege existingPaganformalorganizations as possible
educated, andthat41 percentareparentsraising routesto the movement'sroutinizationand
children. longevity.
Wellorganized, clearlywritten,andaimedat Berger'sworkis a valuableadditionto the
an academicaudience,Berger'sbook covers existingscholarship on witchcraft.Througha
issuesof identitycreation,the coven,the Pagan deftapplication of Giddens's theory,Berger con-
community, children,andthe consequences of vincinglyplacesthismovementin latemoderni-
the religion'sexpansion.Her firstsubstantive ty.Whilethisbookis solid,somereaders maybe
chapterintroduces the movement's focuson rit- disappointed at the omissionof an in-depth
ualandgenderidentitytransformation. Drawing analysisof hersurvey.Othersmaybe concerned
on Giddens's notionof self-identity as a negoti- withherinterchangeable useof the terms Neo-
atedandreflexiveachievement, Bergerunder- Paganism, Witchcraft, andWicca.Althoughshe
stands the religion'srituals as facilitating accurately says"Witchcraft is partof the larger
members' self-transformation: Womenbecome Neo-Paganmovement," shemakesunwarranted
empoweredthrough identifying with the comments: "onthe wholeWitchesarethe more
Goddesswhile men identifywith the Horned committed members of the religion" (p. 10) and
Godwho"loveswomenas equals"(p. 42). She "MostNeo-Pagans, however,takethe labelof
claimsmembers are"attempting to createa com- Witch" (p. 11). Most Neo-Pagansare not
munityof equitybetweenmenandwomen"and Witches,and not all Witchesare Wiccans.
are"questioning genderroles"(p. 47); yet she Althoughthereis a growingtendencyforpeople
notesanessentialist component, "thebeliefthat to referto themselvesas Wiccans,technically
menandwomenareinnatelydifferentin their Wiccansare those whose traditionscan be
responses andabilities"(p. 45) anddocuments tracedto Britain'sGeraldGardner.Witches
evidenceof persisting sexism. whoarenot Wiccanscomefromtraditions that
Bergerviewsmembersas engagingin "life do not go backto Gardner: Somehavelearned
politics,"reflectedin thetypesof socialconcerns theircraftthroughbooks,somesaytheircraftis
theysupport. Forinstance,shepositsthatpeople "hereditary," and others undergotraditional
in the movementact on valuessuchas gender apprenticeships. Thus the labels Wiccaand
equity,environmental nonracism, Witchcraftare so fluid and contested that
responsibility,
andgayandlesbianrights,whichshe describes Berger's looseterminology mayproveto be more
as a "reembedding of socialconcernswithina reader-friendly, thougha clarification of these
moralframework" (p. 8). termswouldbe welcomed.
Bergeranalyzes the covenas a typeof family Becausecraftfamiliesare havingchildren
thatprovidesintimacyandsocializesneophytes andultimatelyaffectingthe religion'sstructure,
to takeon a Witchidentity.She viewscoven Bergerviewsinclusivecovensas moresignifi-
secrecyandthe sharedmythological historyof cant than all-women's groups.Her assessment
PaganismandWitchcraftas contributing to a raisesan important questionforthoseof uswlao
sense of cohesion and community.Parents studywomen'sspirituality: Are the structural
encounterpracticalchallenges,such as raising changesshe observesaccompanied by behav-
childrenin thereligion,dealingwiththe issueof ioralchanges? Althoughshepositsthatmembers
sex (a celebrated act),andconfronting the real- of inclusivegroups"areencouragedto break
ity of stigmatization and religiousdiscrimina- throughtraditionalgenderroles"(p. 43), the
tion. Significantly,Bergerviews the growing claimthatmenwearskirtsto festivalsandsome-
presenceof childrenand the religion'sexpan- timesworkin "women's sphere"doesnot con-
sionas leadingtowardsbureaucratized andcen- vince the readerthat gender relationsare
tralizedstructures. In the final chapter,"The significantly altered.Ifpeoplein thismovement
Routinization of Creativity," she demonstrates are trulytransforming their genderidentities,
that the community's expansion,facilitatedby then ethnographic evidencewouldservethis
globalization,hascreateda needforpaidclergy studywell.
842 Ideology and Cultural Production

Berger's research is timely,original,andthe- mentsandcontrolproblems forthe localcom-

oreticallysophisticated. Herextensiveperiodin munityand the players.Giulianottinext dis-
the fieldis enviable,thoughethnographers will cussesin detailthe financingof football,which
be disappointed at the dearthof description in hasbeenrevolutionized by growthof its televi-
this volume.Bergerdefinesherselfas an "out- sioncoverage.Chapter6, arguably the thinnest
sider"researcher,whichstrengthens herworkin in the book,concentrates on the playersthem-
someareas,yet leavesopenimportant questionsselves,particularly theirmovementfromthesta-
that"insider" studiescanaddress morefully.Her tusof localheroto thatof international star.It
book,coupledwith insiderstudies,greatlyillu- is the only extendedmicrosociological discus-
minatesthisfascinating socialworld.Bergerhas sionin the book.Thatthischapteris weakis no
madean important contribution to the growing faultof Giulianotti, however,forhe hascertain-
bodyof literature aboutthisnewreligious move- ly donehis shareof researchin this area,even
ment,and I stronglyrecommend her bookfor whilemanyof thiscolleaguesin sportsociology
coursesin the sociologyof religionandreligious havechosento workelsewhere.
studies. Chapter7 revolvesaroundthe irrepressible
goalof winning;it examinesfootballas science
andprovidesa fascinating lookintothe issuesof
Football: A Sociology of the GlobalGame,by tacticsandaesthetics. Tacticsandaestheticsare
RichardGiulianotti.Cambridge: PolityPress, not mattersthathavesofarexcitedmuchatten-
1999. 218 pp. $29.95 paper.ISBN:0-7456- tion fromsocialscientistswith a penchantfor
1769-7. research on football.Still,thegamehasitsgrace
ROBERTA. STEBBINS andbeauty,asdefinedbythepresent-day culture
University of Calgary of the body, which relates in complex ways to
Stebbins@9ucaCary.ca player initiative, or agency. That is, despite
beinglockedintorule-based positionsthatsup-
No academic workon football(soccer,in North posedlycontribute in plannedwaysto teamplay,
Americanparlance ) has covered so much individual playersstillhavesomescopeforinno-
groundandsynthesized somuchresearch asdoes vation, every so often evendeveloping dramati-
this delightfuland informative bookfromthe cally new playing tactics.
handof RichardGiulianotti.Writingthrough- The bookendswitha chapteron the cultur-
outin fineacademic prose,he devoteshis open- alpoliticsofplay,asthisbearson ethnicity,gen-
ingpagesto describing andexplaining theglobal der,andthe mentalityof postmodern fans.The
appealof football.Fromherehe setsouthisana- afterword contains a genealogy of football cul-
lytic fiamework: the socialandhistoricalcon- ture, a consideration of certain academic issues
texts in which footballis playedaroundthe in research on football,and,asa finale,a passage
worldas these two articulatewith the three on metaphorical gamesmanship thattreatssoci-
mainperiodsof modernitytraditional,mod- ologicalresearchas a footballformation. There
ern,andpostmodern. Footballcannotbe under- is alsoan extensive reference listand, mercifully
stood adequatelywithout referenceto this in thefrontmatterof thebook,a one-and-a-half
macrohistoricalframework, whichis explicated pageglossary definingthe manyacronyms sprin-
in the forewordandChapter1 andwhichhelps kledthroughout thiswork.
organize discussionat manypointsin the book. Everymajorworldor regionalsportdeserves
Chapter2 centerson footballin the twenti- a book like this one, a volumethat couldbe
eth century,particularly on thewaysit is framed entitledthesociologyof, forexample,baseball,
bythe issuesof classandnation.Appropriately,ice hockey,or basketball, as Giulianotti's could
the firsttwo chaptersalsochroniclethe emer- be eventhoughhe modestlyclaimshis asonly
genceof theprofessional gameandthe manifold a sociologyof football.Althoughit is unlikely
conflictswithvariousamateurgroupsthat this that,whencompared withglobalfootball,these
occasioned.Therefollowsa discussionof the otherssportshaveasrichanarrayof research on
spectator culturesof football,primarilyas these whichto drawin writingsucha book,suchsyn-
have emergedin Europeand LatinAmerica. thesesusingtheanalyticframework fashioned by
Thisleadsto a chapteron footballgrounds, the the authorcouldnonetheless provehighlyinfor-
stadiawheregamesareplayed,especiallyas the mative.Eachof these sportshas its research
formergeneratedifferentemotionalattach- devoteeswho,likeGiulianotti, havecontributed