Piety, Intimacy and Mobility: A Case Study of Charismatic Christianity in Present-Day Stockholm

Abstract

The aim of this ethnographic study is to examine how affiliates of the multicultural\ncharismatic Christian congregation New Life Church practice religiosity within the context\nof their personal daily lives, within the framework of the general congregation and in terms of their involvements with other religious organizations in the area of Stockholm.\nBeginning with the assumption that the practice of contemporary religiosity and the\ndevelopment of a religious identity are part of an ongoing process of habituation, the study\ndescribes how practitioners cultivate a form of charismatic piety characterized by certain\nembodied orientations, patterns of ritualization and narrative genres. To shed further light\non this process, it draws upon a variety of theories concerning ritualization, embodiment,\nperformance, narratives and materiality. Apart from this, the study also constitutes an\nattempt to explore and measure the impact on the practitioners’ religiosity of late modern\ndevelopments such as urbanization, detraditionalization and global mobility as well as\nthe growing absorption in consumerism, emotional intimacy and the unfolding of the\n“authentic” inner self.\nWhile pursuing these ends, the study also calls into question previous assumptions\nabout charismatic Christianity in Sweden, most particularly the assumption that today’s\npractitioners remain inclined to be entirely faithful to one given institution and its system\nof beliefs and practices. Indeed this view is directly challenged herein by the finding that\ncontemporary charismatics are far more inclined to eclectically appropriate elements and\nmodels of thoughts from various contexts of origin as well as to affiliate with and/or visit\nmultiple Christian institutions.\nThis dissertation is based upon fieldwork (observation, participation and interviews) in\nStockholm’s charismatic milieu between the years 2009 and 2011 that is particularly focused\non the organization New Life Church.

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