The Making of a Moonie: Choice or Brainwashing?

by Eileen Barker

The Moonie phenomenon inspired fear, anxiety and suspicion in the public mind, and the question always arises, "Do people choose to become Moonies or are they brainwashed?" This is the prizewinning story of an investigation by an outsider into who becomes a Moonie and how they do so.

Genres: Religion, Psychology, Cults, Nonfiction, Theology, Philosophy

305 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1984

About the author

Eileen Vartan Barker OBE FBA (born 21 April 1938, Edinburgh, UK) is a professor in sociology, an emeritus member of the London School of Economics (LSE), and a consultant to that institution's Centre for the Study of Human Rights. She is the chairperson and founder of the Information Network Focus on Religious Movements (INFORM) and has written studies about groups she defines as cults and new religious movements (NRMs).

Reviews

[Martine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the humour and personality with which the author presentes her research, especially the first few chapters are far from dry because of it. I also admire how deeply she has dived into the Moonie movement for her research while still staying impartial and her methodology, how many different kinds of information she has collected in the form of interviews, observations, questionaires, etc. On the other hand, while I understand why she has chosen to focuss on the means by which people enter the Moonie movement, she has clearly also collected enormous amounts of information from people's experiences after they have become a Moonie and I'm sad that we only see snippets of that.

[Sofi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very interesting but an extremely dense sociological case study. I wouldn't recommend it for pleasure reading.

[Laura Bötschi · Rating 3 out of 5]

aaaaahh bloody book review :$ - *crying in erasmus student*

[Ben Gough-Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and relatively humorous.

[Arturo Bustos]

sociologia