 First edition cover | |
| Author | Helen A. Berger |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | |
| Publisher | University of South Carolina Press |
Publication date | 1999 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardcover · paperback) |
| Pages | 148 |
| ISBN | 978-1-57003-246-2 |
A Community of Witches: Contemporary Neo-Paganism and Witchcraft in the United States is a sociological study of the Wiccan and wider Pagan community in the Northeastern United States. It was written by American sociologist Helen A. Berger of the West Chester University of Pennsylvania and first published in 1999 by the University of South Carolina Press. It was released as a part of a series of academic books entitled Studies in Comparative Religion, edited by Frederick M. Denny, a religious studies scholar at the University of Chicago.
Berger became interested in studying the Wiccan and Pagan movement in 1986, when she presented a lecture on the subject at the Boston Public Library. Subsequently, becoming acquainted with members of the New England Pagan community, she undertook fieldwork in both a local Wiccan coven, the Circle of Light, and a wider Pagan organisation, the EarthSpirit Community (ESC). In total, Berger underwent 11 years of fieldwork among the Pagan community. Along with ESC founder Andras Corban Arthen, Berger also undertook a "Pagan Census" survey of the U.S. in the mid-1990s to obtain more data on the country's Pagan community.
A Community of Witches is based on interviews with more than a hundred practicing Wiccans and Pagans, study of the pre-existing literature on the subject and a national survey of the Pagan community in the U.S. In her work, Berger interprets Wicca as a religion of late modernity, as opposed to postmodernity, and subsequently examines it using the theories of sociologists Anthony Giddens and James A. Beckford. Themes covered include Pagan conceptions of the self, the role of covens and the wider Pagan community, the place of children in the movement and the increasing routinization of Wicca through the foundation of organised churches and clergy.
Academic reviewers were mostly positive, but several raised concerns over Berger's incorrect use of terminology. Reviewers noted the study's importance in developing Pagan studies as an academic discipline and helping further the wider sociological investigation into new religious movements in the United States. In the years following the study's publication, Berger continued to investigate the Pagan community, focusing her interest on the popularity of Wicca among teenagers.