Anna Fedele is a Research Fellow of the Groupe de Sociologie Politique et Morale at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales of Paris and at the Lisbon University Institute. She has recently been a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University. Her research focuses on the intersections between religion and spirituality and the importance of gender in contemporary spirituality. Fedele also coordinated a book with Ruy Blanes entitled Encounters of Body and Soul in Contemporary Religiosity: Anthropological Reflections (forthcoming).Kim Knibbe is a Lecturer at the Department of Theology and Religious studies at the University of Groningen. Netherlands. The past three years she was based at the Anthropology Department of the VU University, Amsterdam and coordinated an international research project on Nigerian-initiated Pentecostal churches in Europe.

• Introduction Anna Fedele and Kim Knibbe 1. Cultivating the Sacred: Gender, Power and Ritualization in Goddess-oriented Groups Åsa Trulsson 2. Spirituality within Religion: Gendered Responses to a Greek ‘Spiritual Revolution’ Eugenia Roussou 3. Individual Spirituality and Religious Membership among Soka Gakkai Buddhists in Spain Monica Cornejo 4. The Power of Submission? Personal Growth and the Issue of Power Among Umbanda Practitioners in Paris Viola Teisenhoffer 5. "Black" Madonna Versus "White" Madonna: Gendered Power Strategies in Alternative Pilgrimages to Marian Shrines Anna Fedele 6. From Crisis to Charisma: Redefining Hegemonic Ideas of Science, Freedom and Gender among Mediumistic Healers in Germany Ehler Voss 7. Spirituality, Charisma and Gender in a Jewish Spiritual Renewal Community in Israel Rachel Werczberger 8. Urban Witchcraft and the Issue of Authority Victoria Hegner 9. Gender and Power: Brahma Kumaris Spirituality and Hinduism in Portugal Inês Lourenço 10. Obscuring the Role of Power and Gender in Contemporary Spiritualities Kim Knibbe 11. In Search of Spirituality in Northeastern Mexico: Religious Change and Masculinity among Addicts in Recovery Ethan P. Sharp

"An important and original contribution to the understanding of the dynamics of gender and power in alternative forms of spirituality." – Sabina Magliocco, California State University, Northridge, USA"Central to spirituality is a desire for personal liberation, we hear again and again. Yet this rich collection of ethnographies demonstrates that it is deeply shaped by performances of gender and power." – Dick Houtman, Erasmus University, Netherlands"I enjoyed the writing throughout the collection and highly recommend it for graduate seminars...All readers will have greater knowledge of and appreciation for the pulse and variety of the prevalent but under-studied new religious communities." Mary L. Keller, University of Wyoming, USA"Written by scholars at varying stages of their careers, this book offers an accessible and engaging collection of essays that foreground the interplay between gender, power, spirituality, and social context. I recommend this book to those interested in current developments and research in the field of spirituality." - Sonya Sharma, Kingston University, UK"This volume offers an accessible insight into the complex renegotiation of gender and power among contemporary spiritual movements in the European context, and generates many questions for further research in this area." - C.A.M. van den Berg, Amsterdam, in Journal of Empirical Theology