The Mindful Elite: Mobilizing from the Inside Out

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Jaime Kucinskas (Assistant Professor of Sociology, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Hamilton College)

The Mindful Elite

Mobilizing from the Inside Out

Jaime Kucinskas (Assistant Professor of Sociology, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Hamilton College)

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English

Oxford University Press
11 December 2018

Buddhism; Social mobility; Sociology; Economics & Business

Mindful meditation is now embraced in virtually all corners of society today, from K-12 schools to Fortune 100 companies, and its virtues extolled by national and international media almost daily. It is thought to benefit our health and overall well-being, to counter stress, to help children pay attention, and to foster creativity, productivity and emotional intelligence. Yet in the 1960s and 1970s meditation was viewed as a marginal, counter-cultural practice, or a religious ritual for Asian immigrants. How did mindfulness become mainstream? In The Mindful Elite, Jaime Kucinskas reveals who is behind the mindfulness movement, and the engine they built to propel mindfulness into public consciousness. Drawing on over a hundred first-hand accounts with top scientists, religious leaders, educators, business people and investors, Kucinskas shows how this highly accomplished, affluent group in America transformed meditation into an appealing set of contemplative practices. Rather than relying on confrontation and protest to make their mark and improve society, the contemplatives sought a cultural revolution by building elite networks and advocating the benefits of meditation across professions. Yet, spreading the Dharma far and wide came with unintended consequences and this idealistic myopia came to reinforce some of the problems it originally aspired to solve.

A critical look at this Buddhist-inspired movement, The Mindful Elite explores how elite movements can spread and draws larger lessons for other social, cultural, and religious movements across institutions and organizations.

By: Jaime Kucinskas (Assistant Professor of Sociology Assistant Professor of Sociology Hamilton College)
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 236mm, Width: 163mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 431g
ISBN: 9780190881818
ISBN 10: 019088181X
Pages: 260
Publication Date: 11 December 2018
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Part I: An Introduction to the Mindful Elite 1. The Contemplative Elite & Capitalism: A Case of Contradictions, Successes and Shortcomings 2. A Brief History of Buddhist-Inspired American Spirituality, 1830s-1970s 3. The Contemplatives (1979- ) Part II: Mobilizing Meditation through Consensus-Based Strategies 4. Accessing Institutions 5. Making Mindfulness Appealing 6. Interventions' Transformation from the Inside Out 7. The Elite Circuit Part III: Assessing the Contemplatives' Success, 2013-2016 8. Collective Authenticity 9. In Conclusion References Appendix: Data Collection and Analysis Endnotes

Jaime Kucinskas is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Hamilton College. Her research focuses on spirituality, social change, and inequality.

Reviews for The Mindful Elite: Mobilizing from the Inside Out

This surprising, if ambiguous, success story will be of interest to students of religion, social movements, and social change, as well as change agents themselves, who will each benefit from the insight and balanced perspective that Kucinskas provides. -- Ruth Braunstein, University of Connecticut, American Journal of Sociology The Mindful Elite: Mobilizing from the Inside Out is an excellent book...It will attract readers from diferent theoretical and empirical perspectives who are interested in religion and spirituality, such as Eastern religions, spirituality, cultural difusion, and religious (and spiritual) movements. While it would be an excellent reader for graduate-level seminars on these topics, The Mindful Elite is also highly accessible. Selected chapters would be appropriate for undergraduate students who are interested in contemporary religious issues. -- Di Di, Santa Clara University, Review of Religious Research The Mindful Elite is an excellent work, a central text for the study of contemporary spirituality. -- Jerry Z. Park, Baylor University, Sociology of Religion