Editing Eileen Barker

{{Short description|British professor of sociology (born 1938)}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Eileen Barker
| image       = Eileen Barker.jpg
| alt         = 
| caption     = Eileen Barker, 1990s
| birth_name  = Eileen Vartan Barker
| birth_date  = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1938|04|21}}
| birth_place = Edinburgh, Scotland
|honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|OBE|FBA|size=100%}}
| death_date  = <!-- {{Death date and age|df=yes|1993|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} or {{Death-date and age|Month DD, YYYY|Month DD, YYYY}} (death date then birth date) -->
| death_place = 
| nationality = British
| other_names = 
| known_for   = Study of [[cult]]s and [[new religious movement]]s, religion
| occupation  = Professor of sociology
| boards = [[INFORM]], [[Study Group for the Sociology of Religion]], [[Society for the Scientific Study of Religion]], [[Association for the Sociology of Religion]], ''[[International Journal of Cultic Studies]]'', [[Centre for the Study of Human Rights]]
| party  = [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]]
}}
'''Eileen Vartan Barker''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|OBE|FBA}} (born 21 April 1938, in Edinburgh, UK) is a professor in [[sociology]], an emeritus member of the [[London School of Economics]] (LSE), and a consultant to that institution's Centre for the Study of Human Rights. She is the chairperson and founder of the [[INFORM (Information Network Focus on Religious Movements)|Information Network Focus on Religious Movements (INFORM)]] and has written studies about [[cult]]s and [[new religious movement]]s.

==Academic career==
Barker has been involved with the LSE's sociology department, where she received her PhD, since 1970.<ref name="Bromley, David G. 1988 page 263">{{Cite book |last= Bromley |first= David G |title= Falling from the Faith: The Causes and Consequences of Religious Apostasy |location= Newbury Park |publisher= SAGE Publications |year= 1988 |isbn= 0-8039-3188-3 |page= 263}}</ref>

In 1988, she engaged in research on the preservation of cultural identity in the [[Armenian diaspora]].<ref name="Bromley, David G. 1988 page 263"/> In the same year, she founded the Information Network Focus on Religious Movements (INFORM) with the support of the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] and financial help from the British [[Home Office]].<ref>{{citation|last= Chryssides|first= George D.|title= Exploring New Religions |publisher= Continuum International Publishing Group|year= 1999|page= 351|isbn =978-0-8264-5959-6}}</ref>

Barker has held numerous positions of leadership in the academic study of religion. She served as the chairperson of the [[British Sociological Association]]'s Study Group for the Sociology of Religion from 1985 to 1990, as president of the [[Society for the Scientific Study of Religion]] from 1991 to 1993 (the first non-American to hold that office), and as president of the [[Association for the Sociology of Religion]] from 2001 to 2002.<ref>[[James A. Beckford]] and [[James Richardson (sociologist)|James T. (Jim) Richardson]], eds., ''Challenging Religion: Essays in Honour of Eileen Barker'' (London: Routledge, 2003), p. 5</ref><ref>{{cite book|last= Heath|first= Anthony Francis|title= Understanding social change|publisher= Oxford University Press|year= 2005|pages= vii|isbn= 978-0-19-726314-3|display-authors= etal}}</ref>

In 2000, Barker became an Officer of the [[Order of the British Empire]] (OBE)<ref>{{cite news | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1999/12/99/new_years_honours/584141.stm | title = New Years Honours, Order of the British Empire | date = 31 December 1999 | work = [[BBC News]]}}</ref> and the [[American Academy of Religion]] awarded her its Martin E. Marty Award for Contributions to the Public Understanding of Religion.<ref>
http://www.aarweb.org/news/pressrelease/2000----marty.asp{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Scholar Honored for Contributions to the Public Understanding of Religion
</ref>

Barker was a member of the editorial review board of ''[[Cultic Studies Review]]'', an academic journal that offered peer-reviewed scholarship alongside news concerning cults and new religious movements.<ref>[http://www.icsahome.com/infoserv_icsa/icsa_brd_csr.htm Cultic Studies Review Editorial Board] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080424153547/http://icsahome.com/infoserv_icsa/icsa_brd_csr.htm |date=24 April 2008 }}, Eileen Barker, PhD, [[International Cultic Studies Association]], Web site., 2006.</ref><ref name="LanCSR02">{{cite journal |last1=Langone |first1=Michael |author-link=Michael Langone|title=Announcing Cultic Studies Review |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512152443/http://culticstudiesreview.org/csr_issues/csr_intro.htm|archive-date=12 May 2008|url-status=dead|journal=Cultic Studies Review|location=Bonita Springs|publisher=[[International Cultic Studies Association]]|date=2002 |volume=1 |issue=1 |url=http://culticstudiesreview.org/csr_issues/csr_intro.htm|quote=By taking over the functions of these three periodicals, CSR is able to offer peer-reviewed, scholarly articles, news on groups and topics (e.g., children and cultic groups), opinion columns, personal accounts of ex-members, and high quality articles for laypersons}}</ref> Barker subsequently joined the editorial board of the ''International Journal of Cultic Studies'', which superseded ''Cultic Studies Review'' in 2010.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Editorial Board |journal=International Journal of Cultic Studies |date=2010 |volume=1 |issue=1|location=Bonita Springs|publisher=[[International Cultic Studies Association]]|page=ii}}</ref>

==''The Making of a Moonie''==
{{main|The Making of a Moonie}}

Her 1984 book ''[[The Making of a Moonie: Choice or Brainwashing?]]'' is based on close to seven years of study of [[Unification Church]] members (informally called "[[Moonie (Unification Church)|Moonies]]") in the United Kingdom and the United States. [[Laurence Iannaccone]] of [[George Mason University]], a specialist in the [[theory of religious economy|economics of religion]], wrote that ''The Making of a Moonie'' was "one of the most comprehensive and influential studies" of the process of conversion to new religious movements.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120111212356/http://faculty.arec.umd.edu/cmcausland/RALi/The%20Market%20for%20Martyrs.pdf The Market for Martyrs], [[Laurence Iannaccone]], George Mason University, 2006, "One of the most comprehensive and influential studies was The Making of a Moonie: Choice or Brainwashing? by Eileen Barker (1984).</ref>

==Opinions of others==
[[Brainwashing]] proponents [[Margaret Singer]] and [[Janja Lalich]] have criticised Barker's rejection of the brainwashing hypothesis in her study of the conversion process for members of the [[Unification Church]]. Singer and Lalich, in their 1995 book ''[[Cults in Our Midst]]'', called Barker a "procult apologist" for adopting an "apologist stance" towards the Unification Church, and noted that she had received payment from the Church for expenses for a book and eighteen conferences from the [[Unification Church]]. Barker defended this by stating that it had been approved by her university and a government grants council, and saved taxpayer money.<ref>''[[Cults in our Midst]]'', [[Margaret Thaler Singer]], [[Janja Lalich]], pp. 217–218, notes on p. 352</ref>

Barker responded to the financial issues in a 1995 paper, writing that "[w]hat is less well known is that vast amounts of money are at stake in the fostering of brainwashing and mind control thesis in the anti-cult movement secondary constructions", and noting that "[[Deprogramming|deprogrammers]]" and "exit counselors" charge tens of thousands of dollars for their services and that "expert witnesses" such as Singer "have charged enormous fees for giving testimony about brainwashing in court cases".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Barker |first=Eileen |title=The Scientific Study of Religion? You Must Be Joking! |journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion |volume=34 |number=3 |pages=287–310 |date=September 1995 |doi=10.2307/1386880|jstor=1386880 }}</ref>

Barker's INFORM organisation has been criticised by the [[Family Action Information Resource]] chaired by former [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] Home Office minister and anti-cult campaigner [[Tom Sackville]], who cut INFORM's Home Office funding in 1997.<ref name=Telegraph>{{citation|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/4253550/Cult-advisers-in-clash-over-clampdown.html|title=Cult advisers in clash over clampdown|last=Telegraph staff|date=31 July 2000|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=19 December 2009}}</ref> In 1999, it was reported that INFORM was facing closure, due to lack of funds.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=144989&sectioncode=26|last=Thomson|first=Alan|title=Cult-watch centre faces closure|date=12 February 1999|work=Times Higher Education|access-date=19 December 2009}}</ref> By 2000, Home Office funding was restored, prompting Sackville to warn that INFORM might provide government with bad advice, adding, "I cancelled INFORM's grant and I think it's absurd that it's been brought back".<ref name=Telegraph /> Criticism of INFORM has focused on Barker's reluctance to condemn all new religions as "cults".<ref name=Telegraph /> Barker responded to the criticism by saying, "We are not cult apologists. People make a lot of noise without doing serious research – so much so that they can end up sounding as closed to reason as the cults they're attacking. Besides, I imagine FAIR was disappointed not to get our funding".<ref name=Telegraph />

In a 2003 collection of essays in honour of Barker, the influential [[Oxford University]]-based religious scholar [[Bryan R. Wilson]] commented that INFORM was "often in a position from which it can reassure relatives about the character, disposition, policy, provenance and prospects of a given movement. It may be able to deflate some widely circulated rumours and false impressions derived from media comment".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article1076505.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311051648/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article1076505.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 March 2007|title=Bryan Wilson: Influential sociologist who offered new and enduring insights into sects and religions|last=Staff|date=29 October 2004|work=The Times|access-date=19 December 2009}}</ref><ref name=Wilson>{{citation|last=Wilson|first=Bryan R.|title=Challenging religion: essays in honour of Eileen Barker|editor=Beckford, James A. |editor2=Richardson, James T.|publisher=Routledge Taylor & Francis Group|year=2003|chapter=Absolutes and relatives: problems for NRMs|isbn=978-0-415-30948-6}}</ref> Wilson added that Barker's social science research, in particular her work on the [[Unification Church]], had been instrumental in demonstrating that the brainwashing concept, which for some years had enjoyed popularity in the media, was unable to explain what actually happened in the process of [[religious conversion]], or to explain why so many members of new religious movements actually leave these movements again after a short period.<ref name=Wilson />

Australian psychologist Len Oakes and British psychiatry professor [[Anthony Storr]], who have written critically about cults, [[guru]]s, new religious movements, and their leaders, have praised Barker's work on the Unification Church's conversion process.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Oakes |first=Len |quote=By far the best study of the conversion process is Eileen Barker's The Making of a Moonie [...] |title=Prophetic Charisma: The Psychology of Revolutionary Religious Personalities |year=1997 |isbn=0-8156-0398-3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Storr |first=Anthony |title=Feet of clay: a study of gurus |year=1996 |isbn=0-684-83495-2}}</ref>

==Political career==
Barker, a member of the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]], was an unsuccessful Queen's Park ward candidate in [[2002_Brent_London_Borough_Council_election|May 2002]]<ref>https://www.brent.gov.uk/elections.nsf/2d43be7a2cad472f80256a940044408f/d76710876d25e9af80256ad20035ac80!OpenDocument 2002 Candidate Details, retrieved 21 July 2007</ref> and an unsuccessful Kenton ward candidate in [[2006_Brent_London_Borough_Council_election|May 2006]].<ref>http://www.brent.gov.uk/elections.nsf/249521561f6cd81b80257145005078d8/ad14c25aedacbccb802571420053d02d!OpenDocument 2006 Candidate Details, retrieved 21 July 2007</ref>

==Selected bibliography==
*Barker, Eileen ''In the Beginning: The Battle of Creationists Science against Evolutionism'', article in the book edited by [[Roy Wallis]] ''On the Margin of Science: The Social Construction of Rejected Knowledge''. Sociological Review Monograph 27, Keele, 1979, pp.&nbsp;179–200
*Barker, Eileen ''[[The Making of a Moonie|The Making of a Moonie: Choice or Brainwashing?]]'', [[Blackwell Publishers]], November 1984, {{ISBN|0-631-13246-5}}
*Barker, Eileen (editor) ''Of Gods and Men: New Religious Movements in the West'' [[Mercer University Press]] Macon, Georgia, USA 1984 {{ISBN|0-86554-095-0}}
*Barker, Eileen ''New Religious Movements: A Practical Introduction'' (Paperback) Bernan Press (October 1990) {{ISBN|0-11-340927-3}}
*Barker, Eileen, ''On freedom: a centenary anthology'', Transaction Publishers, 1997, {{ISBN|1-56000-976-4}} {{ISBN|9781560009764}}
*Barker, Eileen. ''New Religions'', Haft Asman (Seven Heavens), A Journal for the Center for Religious Studies, Vol. 4, no. 19, translated into Persian by Baqer Talebi Darabi, Autumn 2002.
*Barker, Eileen ''"New Religious Movements" Religions and Beliefs in Britain'' (GCSE/A'level resource book), Craig Donnellan (ed.), Cambridge: Independence, 2005: 19–22.

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book |editor=James A. Beckford |editor-link=James A. Beckford |editor2=James T. (Jim) Richardson |editor2-link=James Richardson (sociologist) |title=Challenging Religion: Essays in Honour of Eileen Barker |location=London |publisher=Routledge |year=2003}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
*[http://www.lse.ac.uk/sociology/people/eileen-barker/ Professor Eileen Barker page] at the London School of Economics
*{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060219080908/http://www.chaplaincy.ic.ac.uk/images/nrm_by_eb.pdf |date=19 February 2006 |title=An Introduction to New Religious Movements }} by Eileen Barker
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071014065725/http://www.fathom.com/feature/121938/ Introducing New Religious Movements] From: London School of Economics and Political Science interview (video + text)
*[http://www.samizdat.qc.ca/cosmos/sc_soc/barker.htm Article Review: Thus Spake the Scientist: A Comparative Account of the New Priesthood and its Organisational Bases]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Eileen}}
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:British sociologists]]
[[Category:Sociologists of religion]]
[[Category:Academics of the London School of Economics]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Researchers of new religious movements and cults]]
[[Category:British women sociologists]]
[[Category:Fellows of the British Academy]]
[[Category:Liberal Democrats (UK) politicians]]
[[Category:Honorary Fellows of the London School of Economics]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion]]