Bromley (2004) ‘Dramatic Denouements.’
Citation: Bromley, David G. (2004) ‘Dramatic Denouements,’ in David G. Bromley and J. Gordon Melton (eds.) Cults, Religion & Violence, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 11-41.
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Bromley (2004:11): Dramatic denouements: “transpire when a movement and some segment of the social order reach a juncture at which one or both conclude that the requisite conditions for maintaining their core identity and collective existence are being subverted and that such circumstances are intolerable. These relational moments are most likely to occur when the relationship between movement and society is characterized by polarization and destabilization. Parties on one or both sides thereupon undertake a project of final reckoning under the aegis of a transcendent mandate to reverse their power positions and to restore what they avow to be the appropriate moral order. This project is holistic in the sense that it is undertaken by the entire movement or social order or, alternatively, some segment thereof that acts in the name of the larger whole.” Dramatic denouements result in either exodus or battle.
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Bromley (2004:11-12): Identifies four phases of societal conflict: “(1) Latent Tension, in which the foundational logic and organization of movement and society stand in contradiction to one another, although there may not be direct engagement; (2) Nascent Conflict, in which emergent bilateral conflicts are not articulated in ideological terms, future adversaries have not mobilized organizationally, and parties therefore orient toward one another as ‘troublesome’; (3) Intensified Conflict, in which there is heightened mobilization and radicalization of movements and oppositional groups, entry of third parties, and orientation by parties toward one another as ‘dangerous’ (Sarbin 1967); and (4) Dramatic Denouement, in which polarization and destabilization of dangerous relationships lead to orientation by parties as ‘subversive’ and to projects of final reckoning intended to reverse power and moral relationships (Emerson and Messinger 1977; Emerson 1981).”
Bromley (2004:12): Focuses on disputes as an interactive, complex process with multiple pathways, including conflict resolution. Responses can be contestive (posturing, ritualised dispute, violence), accommodative (adjustments, coordination, rapprochement), or retreatist (marginalisation, physical withdrawal, severing links between parties).
Bromley (2004:13): Argues that, in Western societies, prophetic movements appeared in the Latent Conflict phase in response to the same structural conditions. The new movements opposed the established social order and its legitimacy and proposed an alternative as a spiritual revelation. Whereas the existing order portrays itself as the legitimate heir to a tradition, prophetic movements emphasize sociocultural discontinuity.
Bromley (2004:15): “The social order constitutes the sociocultural conditions against which prophetic movements mobilize; the movements, in turn, draw their energy, ideology, organizational forms, and membership from the social order. In sum, Latent Tension is inherent in the relationship between prophetic movements and the established social order.”
Bromley (2004:16-17): “The emergence of Nascent Conflict is attributable to several key factors that set the stage for Intensified Conflict. Chief among these factors were the number of movements mobilizing during the same period, the development strategies they adopted, the availability of potential converts to the movements in certain social locations, the potential for opposition that was created by the appearance of the groups, and the vulnerability of the social order to challenge during this crisis period.”
Bromley (2004:20-22): Nascent Conflict transformed into Intensified Conflict with the expansion of the number and size of prophetic movements, their radicalization and the counter-radicalization (the unification and formalization of opposition to the cults) this prompted, the involvement of other actors (different branches of the government, the media) in the conflict, and the involvement of actors in multiple conflicts.
Bromley (2004:26-29): Dramatic Denouements are rare events usually involving only one movement. Polarization is prompted by external threats, internal radicalization, secrecy, the centralization of power within or fragmentation of movements, and the removal of third parties. The Dramatic Denouement occurs when all alternative channels of resolution appear to have been exhausted and the threat is perceived as intolerable.