Wexler P. Mystical Society: An Emerging Social Vision

Boulder: Westview Press. — 2000. — 240 p. — ISBN10: 0813391431; ISBN13: 978-0813391434.In Mystical Society Philip Wexler, a well-known critical theorist with a background in social psychology and a special interest in spirituality, examines the revitalization of spirituality manifesting itself in society and in education. Describing what he calls "cultural changes toward the sacred," he documents a cultural shift, brought about by technological and societal changes, toward a new mysticism. Wexler explores the meaning for this new spirituality for our daily lives, for social theory, and for education. From the pervasiveness of a spiritual vernacular to the integration of spiritual practices into our highly individualized and technologized lives, Wexler lays out the evidence for a growing movement, and then draws parallels to periods of mystical revitalization from the past. In the course of this discussion, he draws on the work of Marx, Weber, and Durkheim, as well as from contemporary social theory.Prologue: A New Society
Society: Informationalism, Mysticism, Revitalizatio
Self: Reselfing
Criticism: From Culture to Being
Social Theory: From Society to Cosmos
Education: From Postmodernism to Ethnography of Being
Social Interaction: From Alienation to Mysticism in Destruction
Epilogue: Mystical Sociology and Beyond