ABSTRACT
The immediate question in a study such as this into disaffi liation and deconversion from Christian fundamentalism (CF) is how do we understand modern fundamentalism itself? My overview of this enormous issue will include a consideration of the local context of the city of Sydney and of CF as a recent and infl uential social movement intimately involved in identity change. I will refer also to the relevant research into disaffi liation from CF, and situate this current study within that body of knowledge. My argument is that there is a gap in the existing research about the phenomenon of identity change post-exit from CF. This enquiry into the journey of disaffi liation through a post-structural and relational framework of power, using the theory of Foucault and other post-Foucauldian scholars, is intended to contribute to fi lling that gap. I do not attempt to traverse the enormous body of literature into fundamentalism, violence and the rise of terrorism, as clearly that is beyond my brief.
