Secret Societies

Definition

One of the first theorists attempting to define secret societies was Georg Simmel. His remarks focus mainly on the secrecy element within such societies as it determines the internal structure and reciprocal relations among the adherents as well as the behavior toward the external world. Secrecy is based on a double contingency: The members are concerned with the ideas and activities of the group, which is why they seek to protect the group by controlling the distribution of information.

Another attempt at definition provides a list of features that secret societies encompass. According to David V. Barrett, these include a set of teachings that are only available to selected individuals and [Page 1505]that lead to a hidden (and unique) truth and to personal benefits beyond the reach and even the understanding of the uninitiated.

Theoretical Approaches

Most theories lean in the direction of conspiracy theories, as conspiracy and secrecy tend to be linked: Conspiracy can be seen as the public and, hence, politically problematic aspect of secrecy. Secret societies are thus often considered to be among the “demonic” forces that conspiracy theorists claim are behind many historical developments and events, with assassinations, coups d'état, and epidemics as frequent examples. Whether these developments and events are viewed in either positive or negative lights depends on the eye of the beholder. Generally, in political theory as well as practice, the presence of secret societies is seen as problematic for democracy, as they interfere in ways that are often as unproven as they are improvable with the democratic process. They are also viewed as problematic by authoritarian states, even by those that used secret societies to help them gain power. For example, the German Nazi Party was internationally closely linked with various secret societies, like the Organisation Consul, but required all prospective party members to declare that they were not a member of any such society, the Freemasons among them.

Several authors link the Western history of civilization to the growing existence of secret societies as both reactions to and promoters of change, especially since the Enlightenment. Periods of change and transformation seem to foster their emergence, be it to preserve particularly threatened or politically oppressed values and ideas or to foster and establish special developments. Additionally, a secret society can foster transformations and help forge identity, as is the case with the “African Broederbond” and the formation of a wider Boer society in South Africa.

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