'There Is No Place for Us to Go but Up': New Religious Movements and Violence. (English)

English. While the 'cult wars' of the 1970s--1980s largely ended in the USA with the Fishman decision (1990), between 1994 and 2000 mass suicides and homicides perpetrated respectively by the Solar Temple, Aum Shinri-kyo, Heaven's Gate and the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God revived anti-cult feelings which eventually led to administrative and legislative action in several European countries. The author criticizes two anti-cult explanations of the incidents, one based on brainwashing and the other on psychopathology and fraud, and suggests that scholars of new religious movements and critics of 'cults' may both learn from these cases and start a fruitful dialogue by revisiting the original literature on thought reform and the works of Robert Jay Lifton and Edgar H. Schein. Ultimately, and without denying that 'cults' may carry out illegal activities other than those involving the actual loss of human lives, as far as 'critical incidents' are concerned content-neutral models of persuasions and influence should be supplemented by an examination of which ideologies may be more conductive to suicide and violence. French. Les 'guerres des sectes' des années 1970--1980 se terminent en bonne partie aux Etats-Unis avec l'arrêt Fishman (1990). Mais des suicides et homicides 'sectaires' des années 1994--2000 (Ordre du Temple Solaire, Aum Shinri-kyo, Heaven's Gate, Restauration des Dix Commandements de Dieu) provoquent un sursaut 'anti-sectes' qui, en Europe, va jusqu'à des rapports parlementaires et à de nouvelles lois dans certains pays. L'auteur critique deux interprétations des suicides-homicides, fondées l'une sur le lavage de cerveau et l'autre sur la psychopathologie, et suggère qu'un dialogue entre les chercheurs et ceux qui voudraient prévenir les 'dérives sectaires' est possible, en revenant sur les thèses de la 'réforme de la pensée' telles que R.J. Lifton et E.H. Schein les avaient... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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