%0 Journal Article %T The Politics of Schism. The origins of Dissent in Mormonism %A Potz, Maciej %J Studia Religiologica %V 2016 %R 10.4467/20844077SR.16.014.5872 %N Tom 49, Numer 3 %P 203-218 %K Mormonism, schism, political power, theory of social exchange ; mormonizm; schizma; władza polityczna; teoria wymiany społecznej %@ 0137-2432 %D 2016 %U https://ejournals.eu/czasopismo/studia-religiologica/artykul/the-politics-of-schism-the-origins-of-dissent-in-mormonism %X Throughout nearly two ages of its history, and especially in the 19th century, Mormonism has experienced numerous cases of dissent and schism. Analysis of their sources reveals that, among a number of doctrinal, ritual, organisational and other issues, the single most important cause of schism was conflicts over authority. These power struggles are explained – within a theoretical framework derived from the theory of social exchange – as balancing operations intended to improve the actors’ position in unequal exchange relations: to be able to obtain the valuable religious goods at a lower price (i.e. less or no submission).