What is it about?
Social scientists have long interpreted extreme, burdensome or costly behaviors as signals of commitment to one's group, including religious: if I'm willing to suffer deprivations, fast, or even self-multilate, it means I really care. In this article, I propose to interpret voluntary costly signals (i.e. above what is required of all members), as bids for power and status. Such acts, both ascetic (e.g., castration among the Russian Skoptsy) or ecstatic (e.g., trance and possession among American Shakers) may signal extraordinary qualities or privileged contact with gods, and, in this way, grant individuals special authority and position within the group.
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This page is a summary of: Voluntary Costly Signals in Religious Communities: A Political Interpretation, Method & Theory in the Study of Religion, February 2023, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1163/15700682-bja10105.
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