(March 8, 2015 at 1:19 pm)Metis Wrote: Yeah..True, I guess that was a bit vauge. I'll be a little bit more specific. I'm looking for any books that can provide an overview or introduction to the phenomenon, ideally looking at both modern and historical examples of commodified religious devotional practices and possibly how/why its caught on in popularity.
Most my my research into the topic so far has been centered around New Age spirituality and an increasing focus on individual "pick n' mix" self-help workshops rather than organized group rituals, but aside from one or two I don't really know any researchers off the top of my head who've focused on the subject from that angle on religion generally or a specific one.
If you wanted to explore a more mainstream faith with roots that are observable, the Mormon church would be ideal, as we have a pretty good documentation of its history, and that would include its commodification. Your American readers would also have more insight into the sociocultural conditions obtaining at the time, as well.
Outside that, as Abaris notes, your study would have to be very wide-ranging in order to convey the sociocultural milieu accompanying the business of religion in its various forms.
