Bounded Choice: True Believers and Charismatic Cults

List of Illustrations Preface Acknowledgements 1. Introduction: Cults and True Believers Definitional Issues Cults in the Headlines The Bounded Choice Perspective The Comparative Research Project PART ONE: HEAVEN'S GATE 2. Gurus, Seers, and New Agers Entering Heaven's Gate Formative Principles Sociocultural Influences Religious and Spiritual Influences Technologies of Change 3. The Beginning: "The Two" Arrive The Formative Years The Development of Bounded Choice (Part 1) 4. Evolution of the Charismatic Community Consolidating the Membership The Development of Bounded Choice (Part 2) 5. Denouement The Death of Nettles Going and Staying Underground Leaving the Human Level The Development of Bounded Choice (Part 3) PART TWO: THE DEMOCRATIC WORKERS PARTY 6. Revolutionaries, Rebels, and Activists Historical and Ideological Influences Sociocultural Influences The Emergence of the New Communist Movement A Typical Recruit A Convergence of Forces for a New Party 7. The Founding of the Democratic Workers Party The Arrival of a Leader The Development of Bounded Choice (Part 1) 8. The Cadre Formation The Formation of the Party The Development of Bounded Choice (Part 2) 9. Decline and Fall The Glory Days The Unraveling The Failure of Bounded Choice PART THREE: THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE 10. The True Believer: The Fusion of Personal Freedom and Self-Renunciation The Significance of the Social Context Structures of Freedom and Constraint The Bounded Reality of the True Believer 11. Bounded Choice: Cult Formation and the Development of the True Believer Bounded Choice in Relation to Other Conformity Theories Cult Formation: The Self-Sealing Social System The Social Psychology of the Individual Change Process The Limited Choices of the True Believer Bounded Choice as a Larger Social Phenomenon Appendix Notes Bibliography Index