Eileen Barker English scientist, sociologist Date of Birth: 21.04.1938 Country: Great Britain

Biography of Eileen Barker

Eileen Barker is an English scholar and sociologist. She is an honorary member of the London School of Economics and a consultant for the Centre for the Study of Human Rights at the London School of Economics. Barker is the chair and founder of the Information Network Focus on Religious Movements (INFORM), a research network that focuses on the study of cults and religious movements.

Barker has had a long and productive collaboration with the sociology department at the London School of Economics. In fact, she obtained her PhD in 1970 from this institution. In 1988, Barker began studying the preservation of Armenian diaspora culture. In the same year, she established the Information Network Focus on Religious Movements with the support of the Archbishop of Canterbury from the British Home Office.

Throughout her career, Eileen Barker has led various projects that study different aspects of religion. From 1985 to 1990, she served as the chair of the British Sociological Association's Study Group for the Sociology of Religion. From 1991 to 1993, Barker was the president of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, becoming the first non-American to hold such a prominent position in the society. From 2001 to 2002, she served as the president of the Association for the Sociology of Religion.

In recognition of her contributions, Barker was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2000. In the same year, she was awarded the Martin E. Marty Award by the American Academy of Religion for her contributions to public understanding of religion.

In 2009, Barker was a member of the editorial board for the Cultic Studies Review, published by the International Cultic Studies Association. One of Barker's most notable works is the book "The Making of a Moonie: Choice or Brainwashing?". In this book, she presents the results of seven years of studying the Unification Church, which is well-known in both the United Kingdom and the United States.