Understanding Jonestown and Peoples Temple
eBook - ePub

Understanding Jonestown and Peoples Temple

  1. 192 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Understanding Jonestown and Peoples Temple

About this book

This in-depth investigation of Peoples Temple and its tragic end at Jonestown corrects sensationalized misunderstandings of the group and places its individual members within the broader context of religion in America. Most people understand Peoples Temple through its violent disbanding following events in Jonestown, Guyana, where more than 900 Americans committed murder and suicide in a jungle commune. Media coverage of the event sensationalized the group and obscured the background of those who died. The view that emerged thirty years ago continues to dominate understanding of Jonestown today, despite the dozens of books, articles, and documentaries that have appeared. This book provides a fresh perspective on Peoples Temple, locating the group within the context of religion in America and offering a contemporary history that corrects the inaccuracies often associated with the group and its demise. Although Peoples Temple had some of the characteristics many associate with cults, it also shared many characteristics of black religion in America. Moreover, it is crucial to understand how the organization fits into the social and political movements of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s: race, class, colonialism, gender, and other issues dominated the times and so dominated the consciousness of the members of Peoples Temple. Here, Rebecca Moore, who lost three family members in the events in Guyana, offers a framework for U.S. social, cultural, and political history that helps readers to better understand Peoples Temple and its members.

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Yes, you can access Understanding Jonestown and Peoples Temple by Rebecca Moore in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Philosophy & Social Psychology. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher
Praeger
Year
2009
Print ISBN
9780313352515
eBook ISBN
9798216159360
Edition
1

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  5. Preface
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. Author’s Note
  8. Introduction: Framing the Subject
  9. Chapter 1 Beyond White Trash
  10. Chapter 2 California Dreamin’
  11. Chapter 3 The Promised Land
  12. Chapter 4 Fighting Monsters
  13. Chapter 5 The Abyss
  14. Chapter 6 Preserving the Ultimate Concern
  15. Chapter 7 Dehumanizing the Dead
  16. Chapter 8 Jonestown Re-enters American Culture
  17. Chapter 9 Making Meaning after Jonestown
  18. Notes
  19. Resources for Understanding Jonestown and Peoples Temple
  20. Index
  21. About the Author