Can You Find Me?: Growing up in Scientology in 1990s Toronto

Abstract:

Abstract: From the perspective of a former member, this paper employs autoethnography to explore the lived and felt experience of growing up in the Church of Scientology in 1990s Toronto. Using affect theory and psychoanalytic critique, I will examine and articulate the complex, sometimes painful, and undoubtedly generative ways that Scientology’s doctrine and routine practices contributed to my sense of agency as a child -- both in the context of the community and in relation to the outside world. I aim to bring a phenomenological awareness and critical perspective to the realities of childhood in Scientology and to convey that such narratives are crucial to the production of more compassionate and critical discussions of Scientology.

Presenter bio: Amy Jemmett is a doctoral student at the Department for the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto, where she also earned her SSHRC-funded MA in 2022. Amy’s research focuses on childhood embodiments of religious doctrine and culture, particularly in the context of Scientology. Her work draws from both psychoanalytic and affect theories to create an autoethnographic methodology that attends to the lived and felt experience of growing up in a new religious movement.