Paths to Masonry Today
Social Factors Behind Joining the Craft among Twentieth and Twenty-first Century Canadian Freemasons
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jrff.v3i2.152Keywords:
Freemasonry, dramaturgical analysis, membershipAbstract
Despite increased academic attention to freemasonry, the predominant historical focus means relatively little attention has been paid to its meaning for contemporary members. In this paper I empirically reverse this focus. Drawing upon qualitative interviews, film footage, and observation of freemasons in two Canadian provinces, I outline six interactional elements that lead up to a person’s decision to become a freemason. These include: (1) predisposing factors in one’s social background; (2) the dramaturgical interplay between secrecy/mystery and curiosity; (3) organized/organizing encounters; (4) attractive/attracting aspects; (5) unattractive factors/hurdles to get over; and (6) strategies employed to overcome such hurdles. While one or another element may be emphasized to a greater or lesser extent in specific cases, they occurred with sufficient regularity to shed light on the significant question of attracting new members to the craft in the opening decades of the twenty-first century.
References
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Belton, John L. ‘Masonic Membership Myths Debunked’. In Freemasonry in Context: History, Ritual, Controversy, eds. A. des Hoyos and S.B. Morris, 313. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2004.
Belton John L. and David Harrison, ‘Masonic Fraternalism: Two Centuries of Membership Fluctuations Examined’, paper presented at the International Conference on the History of Freemasonry, Edinburgh, UK, 25–27 May 2007.
Bieto, David T. From Mutual Aid to the Welfare State: Fraternal Societies and Social Services, 1890–1967. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2000.
Bullock, Steven C. ‘Creative Destruction: The Cycles of American Masonic History’, paper presented at the International Conference on the History of Freemasonry, Edinburgh, UK, 25–27 May 2007.
Chisholm, John Wesley. Inside Freemasonry. Halifax, NS: Arcadia Entertainment/Vision TV, 2004.
Coil, Henry W. Coil’s Masonic Encyclopedia. New York: Macoy,1996.
Fine, Gary Alan and Lori Holyfield. ‘Secrecy, Trust, and Dangerous Leisure: Generating Group Cohesion in Voluntary Organizations’. Social Psychology Quarterly 59:1(1996): 22–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2787117
Glaser, Barney and Anselm Strauss, The Discovery of Grounded Theory. Chicago, IL: Aldine, 1967.
Goffman, Erving. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Doubleday Anchor, 1959.
Harland-Jacobs, Jessica Builders of Empire: Freemasonry and British Imperialism. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2007.
Hodapp, Chris. Freemasons for Dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2005.
Holstein, James A. and Jaber F. Gubrium. The Self We Live By: Narrative Identity in a Postmodern World. New York: Oxford, 2000.
Jacob, Margaret C. ‘The Enlighten¬ment Redefined: The Formation of Modern Civil Society’. Social Research 58:2 (Summer 1991): 475–95.
Jacob, Margaret C. The Radical Enlightenment: Pantheists, Freemasons and Republicans. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1981.
Knight, Stephen. The Brotherhood: The Secret World of the Freemasons. London: Dorset Press, 1984.
Mangham, Iain L. and Michael A. Overington. Organizations as Theatre: A Social Psychology of Dramatic Appearances. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons, 1987.
Masonic Membership Statistics Since 1924. Masonic Service Association of North America. Accessed 24 April 2013. Available at: http://www.msana.com/msastats.asp
Mestrovic, Stjepan G. Postemotional Society. London: SAGE, 1997.
Morris, S. Brent. ‘The Six Stages of the Evolution of Freemasonry in the United States of America’, paper presented at the International Conference on the History of Freemasonry, Edinburgh, UK, 25–27 May 2007(a).
Morris, S. Brent, personal e-mail message to author, 30 May 2007(b).
Putnam, Robert D. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2000.
Stevenson, David. The Origins of Freemasonry: Scotland’s Second Century 1590–1710. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.
Tabbert, Mark A. ‘The Development of Twentieth Century American Masonic Philanthropies’, paper presented at the International Conference on the History of Freemasonry, Edinburgh, UK, 25–27 May 2007.
Tschom, Adam. ‘Freemasons in Midst of Popularity, Membership Boom’. Los Angeles Times, May 18. Accessed 28 July 2009. Available at: http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-ig-masons 18-2008may 18,0,562412.story
Published
2014-03-25
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Kenney, J. S. (2014). Paths to Masonry Today: Social Factors Behind Joining the Craft among Twentieth and Twenty-first Century Canadian Freemasons. Journal for Research into Freemasonry and Fraternalism, 3(2), 152-184. https://doi.org/10.1558/jrff.v3i2.152
