A radical cultural and political history of exorcism and possession from the 1950s to the present day.

Demands for exorcism have increased since the mid-twentieth century. What could be the cause of the recent possession outbreak? Are possessed people actually suffering from mental health problems? Or is the world falling victim to the devil and demons?

In this shocking new book, Grafton Tanner argues that neither science nor religion can fully explain the re-emergence of exorcism. Once considered outdated at best, and an embarrassment at worst, exorcism today is more than just a horror movie trope: it has become a popular product in our therapeutic marketplace and a weapon against groups that resist state, corporate, and ecclesiastical powers. In a world anxious about what people believe and how they behave, and where losing one’s self is deemed threatening, accusations of possession can serve to punish the youth, nonconformists, and marginalized populations.

Charting the history of exorcism in an allegedly secular age — from the brainwashing panic of the postwar period to the cult deprogramming of the 1970s, and from the massive influence of William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist to the harmful practice of conversion “therapy” — Purging the Devil is an inquiry into the nature of belief and a meditation on our fascination with evil.