Papers by Renee D Lockwood
Play and playfulness have been seminal to human culture for millennia. Twentieth-century scientif... more Play and playfulness have been seminal to human culture for millennia. Twentieth-century scientific enquiry was largely concerned with their evolutionary benefits, though humanistic psychology, and later positive psychology came to view them as attached to greater human values and meaning creation. Due to their myriad forms and manifestations, play and playfulness have been difficult to define and measure. This paper will explore the nature of these problematics. It will also highlight the most salient research concerning the benefits of play and playfulness, and the subsequent implications for coaching. Based on the latest literature, a definition of play and playfulness apposite to the coaching framework is offered, along with suggestions for future research directions.
Journal of Contemporary Religion, 2008
International Journal for the Study of New Religions, 2011
, Landmark Education has continuously denied being a religious organization. Despite ample discou... more , Landmark Education has continuously denied being a religious organization. Despite ample discourse on the religious nature of the group within popular online and print media, a conspicuous void within academia-particularly within Religious Studies -speaks volumes. Rarely are the boundaries of what constitutes a "religion" expanded in order to explore those groups that, though not understood to be "religious" in a traditional sense, clearly contribute to contemporary "spiritual" life. And yet, that Landmark Education is perceived as being somehow religious demands deeper analysis. This article highlights the problematics of "religion" within late Western modernity as illustrated by the contention surrounding the religious status of both Scientology and Transcendental Meditation. A discussion of Landmark Education is offered in light of these issues, along with a dissection of the religio-spiritual dimensions of the organization and its primary product, the Landmark Forum. Incorporating several Eastern spiritual practices, the highly emotional nature of the Landmark Forum's weekend training is such as to create Durkheimian notions of "religious effervescence," altering pre-existing belief systems and producing a sense of the sacred collective. Group-specific language contributes to this, whilst simultaneously shrouding Landmark Education in mystery and esotericism. The Forum is replete with stories of miracles, healings, and salvation apposite for a modern Western paradigm. Indeed, the sacred pervades the training, manifested in the form of the Self, capable of altering the very nature of the world and representing the "ultimate concern." 226 Renee Lockwood
Literature and Aesthetics, 2012
On a Panegyrical Note: Studies in Honour of Garry W. Trompf, 2007
Conference Presentations by Renee D Lockwood
Coaching in Leadership and Healthcare Conference, Institute of Coaching, Boston, 2019
Within the field of positive psychology, play and playfulness have been shown to foster creativit... more Within the field of positive psychology, play and playfulness have been shown to foster creativity, promote healthy relationships, and build coping strategies. Yet research shows that they are not simple constructs, nor are they necessarily easily induced. This paper aims to highlight the complexities of effectively utilising play and playfulness within the coaching space, including team-building activities. It is designed to offer both a theoretical extension and a practical application of a recently published paper by the author, which illustrates both the myriad benefits provided by coaches working to facilitate play and playfulness, and the simultaneous need for a nuanced, thoughtful approach that supports the client’s autonomy when doing so. It is concluded that, because play and playfulness are subjective, context-specific constructs, attempting to use a ‘one-size-fits-all’ model can in fact be counter-productive. As such, coaches employing these concepts are encouraged to use evidence-based practice, and to engage in ongoing dialogue and experimentation to ensure the efficacy of their praxes and the well-being of their clients.
Since the 1970s, novel forms of spirituality have emerged within the business world, based largel... more Since the 1970s, novel forms of spirituality have emerged within the business world, based largely on the principles of humanistic psychology and the Human Potential Movement. While the synchronisation of business and spirituality has received some attention from the academy, there remains a lack of exploration outside outmoded typologies of ‘New Age’ practices. Such analyses often assume that the religio-spiritual discourses and praxes within the corporate sphere result solely from cynical attempts at employee and consumer manipulation, and are thus antithetical to ‘authentic’ religion. This paper offers a model of ‘corporate religion’, which includes Landmark Education, Anthony Robbins and Brandon Bays. The religiosity of this milieu is examined in light of the de-institutionalisation of ‘spirituality’, and the subsequent spiritualisation of many facets of humanistic psychology including ‘self-actualisation’ and ‘peak-experiences.’ The specific forms of soteriology and the sacred offered by these corporate religions are revealed to be apposite to contemporary Western corporate culture, further illustrating that discourse concerning ‘authentic’ religion is redundant.
Cultural, social and technologic shifts within late Western modernity have seen significant alter... more Cultural, social and technologic shifts within late Western modernity have seen significant alterations to the ways in which religion and spirituality are produced, consumed, studied and presented. Despite extensive commentary within the academy on the impacts of post-modernity, consumerism and the Internet on culture and spirituality, outdated and hegemonic ideas of ‘religion’ persist, presenting problems for researchers of modern spiritual forms. Many of those aspects seen as fundamental to the definition of religion, including notions of community, belonging, ritual, and the sacred, must be re-considered in light of new epistemologies borne by the momentum of the twenty-first century. The democratising effects of both consumerism and cyber-culture have seen the ubiquitous rejection of explicit forms of authority and tradition. This, combined with the negative press surrounding certain infamous new religious movements, has resulted in the very term ‘religion’ assuming an air of contamination undesirable to many producers and consumers of spirituality and spiritual products. In this context, the professed religious status of a group, movement or individual is no longer sufficient to justify consideration or dismissal from researchers. Corporate religions, productivity spiritualities and ‘hyper-real’ religions are examples of contemporary modes of spirituality that demand both attention from religious studies as well as a re-thinking of the semantics of ‘religion.’
Allegories of spiritual travel speak volumes about the religiosity of an age. Within pre-modern m... more Allegories of spiritual travel speak volumes about the religiosity of an age. Within pre-modern monotheistic traditions in the West, the metaphor of the spiritual journey, undertaken as a religious pilgrimage, was concerned with soteriologies derived from the imperative of an external divine will. The trek through a twilight landscape - where the internal merges with the hard stuff of rock and road - was one which was ultimately aimed towards unity with the divine, the adhesive for which was comprised of equal parts suffering and obedience. However, with the 'massive subjective turn of modern culture' in the West, the atlas of the contemporary spiritual pilgrim is indexed almost wholly towards interior concerns; the sacred, 'authentic' Self representing a new divine goal. For many inhabiting the world of Western capitalism, paths to salvation no longer extend into the eternal, but weave through the temporal realities of daily existence, offering immanent elevation to 'improved' states of health, wholeness and freedom. This new spiritual landscape is composed of myriad novel spiritualities, including 'corporate religions' - groups with a specific religio-spiritual function that are operated and presented as corporations - of which 'the Journey' is paradigmatic. This paper aims to highlight the topography of Western consumer-based spirituality through the allegories of travel presented in Brandon Bays' 'Journeywork', demonstrating how the nature of the both the journey and the destination reflect the sacred and soteriologies of an epoch. In so doing, corporate religions like Bays' are shown to be genuine reflections of Western religiosity, and should not be dismissed only as cynical levers of corporate manipulation. Indeed, Journeywork is an ideal metaphor of this modern spiritual landscape, in which the pilgrim fixes her gaze not at the horizon, but at the Self.
Book Reviews by Renee D Lockwood
Journal of Religious History, 2015
cisgenderism over trans, intersex, gender-queer, and other subjectivities. Putting aside these dr... more cisgenderism over trans, intersex, gender-queer, and other subjectivities. Putting aside these drawbacks and omissions, though, this book is a very valuable, pertinent, and necessary Companion that highlights the key themes and investigative groundwork one must grapple with when dealing with the incredibly important links between sex, gender, and religion.
Thesis Chapters by Renee D Lockwood
The relationship between religion and economics has been explored by scholars since Max Weber’s s... more The relationship between religion and economics has been explored by scholars since Max Weber’s seminal work The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1905). In the late twentieth century, theorists began to focus particularly on the impact of consumerism on Western religiosity, demonstrating the manner in which traditional religious beliefs and practices are making way for a broader ‘spiritual marketplace’ in which consumers are able to ‘pick and mix’ those elements of religion which they find most appealing. The New Age movement is most commonly the subject of these discussions, though recent scholarship has offered the terms ‘spiritualities of life’ and ‘progressive spiritualities’ as more nuanced alternatives. Another aspect of this relationship that has sparked interest from the academy, particularly since the 1990s, is the merging of corporate culture and spirituality. Observations of this phenomenon are often made through a similar lens, with the New Age paradigm most often employed to describe the kinds of beliefs and practices circulating the corporate sector. Whilst in the early twenty-first century several texts promoting ‘spirituality’ in the workplace exist, these are almost always composed either by non-academic authors writing from within the field of business, or by theologians encouraging religious practices at work. When it comes to etic, sociological analyses, more cynical approaches are the norm. Spirituality in the workplace is commonly analysed as profit-driven, designed to promote worker efficiency and improve sales. The fact that many ‘spiritual’ products are marketed as doing just this certainly seems to justify these perspectives. However, less easy to validate are the implications of the ‘inauthentic’ nature of workplace spirituality, and the clearly problematic dichotomies of ‘real’ versus ‘fake’ religion such analyses carry. Consequently, this thesis aims to avoid moralising whilst exploring these currents, and to focus instead on unpacking the problems of ‘corporate religion.’ This process begins with an in-depth analysis of the core aspects of these corporate spiritualities; namely the ‘sacred’ and soteriological forms that exist within them, as well as the specific values they promote. The concepts of ‘ultimate subjectivity,’ ‘soteriological relocation,’ and ‘ontological soteriology’ are offered, and illustrated to be new and important characteristics of modern Western spirituality. It is also concerned with the creation of the ‘commercial ethic,’ and its relationship to the phenomenon of ‘corporate religion.’ While the roots of these phenomena run deeper than the scope of this thesis allows, the roles of certain socio-cultural forces of the twentieth century in their formation are explored. Two culture streams in particular are identified as being seminal in the creation of these new spiritual and ethical realities. The first, that of humanistic psychology, is shown to have contributed profoundly to the creation and perpetuation of ‘ultimate subjectivity;’ the idea of the ‘authentic self’ representing a new form of the sacred and the absolute arbiter of change. Further, the early humanistic psychologists are shown to have promoted particular values including spontaneity, creativity, playfulness, courage, autonomy and rebellion, as means of finding ‘salvation’ from the crises of modernity. The second culture stream, which includes marketing, consumer and business culture – all elements of consumer capitalism – is revealed to have been equally responsible for the perpetuation of these ideas in modern Western consciousness. While this may seem ironic, considering the rejection of corporate culture by many humanistic psychologists, a deeper analysis shows the existence of a dialectic between these seemingly divergent fields, resulting in the synthesis of the modern commercial ethic. In exploring the first culture stream, that of psychology and the Human Potential Movement, the work of Erich Fromm and Abraham Maslow is primarily investigated. In the analysis of the second, that of consumer culture, marketing and business, two authors are primary. First, Thomas Frank’s discussion of the relationship between ‘counter-culture’ values and marketing is discussed. Secondly, John Grant’s New Marketing Manifesto is shown to reflect the manner in which commercial ethic values are fundamental to business and marketing success, having been subsequently promoted through Western culture. Two key methodological frameworks are employed to frame these analyses. Firstly, Charles Taylor’s theory of the ‘massive subjective turn of modern culture’ lies at the heart of the primary arguments presented here. Secondly, Berger and Luckmann’s model of reality construction represents the scaffolding for the theory of the creation of the commercial ethic, as humanistic psychologists and marketing professional are viewed as experts responsible for the permeation of commercial ethic values throughout Western culture, as well as new, temporal, ontology-based forms of the sacred and salvation. Having examined the creation of these new spiritual realities, and their solidification within contemporary Western consciousness, the nature of the corporate religious forms that uphold them will be explored. This will begin with the problematizing of much of the sociological methodology concerning secularisation, rationalisation, and the function and social significance of new religious forms in Western late modernity. In particular, theories that promote the demoralisation perspective – the understanding that rationalisation and the utilitarian individualism promoted by modern consumer capitalism inevitably result in the death of religion – are scrutinized. More specifically, the hypothesis that the nature of rationality is inherently not conducive to the creation of religion is challenged. Arguing from the understanding that religion both reflects and emerges from society, seemingly ‘rational’ forms of religion existing within bureaucratised, corporate environments are presented as empirical challenges to these theses. These spiritualities are shown to function in much the same way as traditional religious forms, unifying participants through shared values and beliefs, offering salvation from the crises and malaises specific to the cultural context, and upholding a particular form of the sacred; the authentic Self. Having illustrated the significance and validity of these new religio-spiritual forms and their relevance to the academy, a detailed description of the corporate religious milieu will be offered. Potential typologies and categorisations of corporate religion are evaluated, and examples of these spiritual forms presented in order to highlight the scope of the phenomenon. Finally, a case study of a corporate religious form, ‘Landmark,’ is presented.
Book Chapters by Renee D Lockwood
Handbook of Scientology, 2017
Since the 1980s, there has been a proliferation of religio-therapeutic practices employed within ... more Since the 1980s, there has been a proliferation of religio-therapeutic practices employed within corporate frameworks. Offering new modes of soteriology and the sacred based in psychology and ontology, they are frequently utilised not only by individuals, but also by companies and government agencies. Based on previous case studies, I propose a model of ‘corporate religion’ which incorporates various groups, individu¬als, and products that may be found within the contemporary spiritual mar¬ketplace. Fitting within the parameters of corporate culture, they embrace a particular form of therapeutic spirituality, whilst simultaneously functioning as profit-driven organisations and adopting a professional aesthetic. They are concerned with the absolute agency of the authentic Self, which must be un¬covered from accumulated layers of stories and belief systems in order to reach its full potential. This is achieved through processes that may be understood as psychological exorcisms. This chapter will present the key aspects of corporate religion, and then examine Scientology’s relationship to this model. In doing so, it will also explore the ways in which L. Ron Hubbard’s teachings have influenced the philosophies and praxes of these new religious or ‘pseudo-religious’ forms. In particular, the spiritualisation of psychology and the role of personal therapy in Scientology are examined as key elements of this new mode of spirituality in the West. The practice of clearing the reactive mind of engrams in order to liberate the ‘true self’, represented in the thetan, is one which is replicated in the teachings of myriad groups and individual practitioners today, albeit in more secular guises. Indeed, the fact that Scientology is the first and only ‘cor¬porate religion’ to have officially claimed religious status is significant, and the implications of this will also be examined.
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Papers by Renee D Lockwood
Conference Presentations by Renee D Lockwood
Book Reviews by Renee D Lockwood
Thesis Chapters by Renee D Lockwood
Book Chapters by Renee D Lockwood