Overview

This volume offers new approaches to some of the biggest persistent challenges in the study of esotericism and beyond. Commonly understood as a particularly ""Western"" undertaking consisting of religious, philosophical, and ritual traditions that go back to Mediterranean antiquity, this book argues for a global approach that significantly expands the scope of esotericism and highlights its relevance for broader theoretical and methodological debates in the humanities and social sciences. The contributors offer critical interventions on aspects related to colonialism, race, gender and sexuality, economy, and marginality. Equipped with a substantial introduction and conclusion, the book offers textbook-style discussions of the state of research and makes concrete proposals for how esotericism can be rethought through broader engagement with neighboring fields.

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9789004446441

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Reviews

The book argues for a global approach to the study of esotericism and emphasizes its relevance for broader theoretical and methodological debates in the humanities and social sciences to encourage an open and serious exchange with other perspectives. This is indeed an essential contribution to the study of esotericism, which will undoubtedly elicit fruitful further discussion within and beyond the field. - Nicole Maria Bauer, University of Innsbruck, in: Religious Studies Review 47.1 (2021).

Author Information

Egil Asprem is Associate Professor in History of Religions at Stockholm University. He is the editor-in-chief of Aries and has published widely on esotericism and its study, including The Problem of Disenchantment: Scientific Naturalism and Esoteric Discourse, 1900-1939 (Brill, 2014). Julian Strube is a Research Fellow at the University of Münster, Germany. He has published a range of monographs, edited volumes, and articles on the relationship between religion, esotericism, and politics since the nineteenth century from a global historical perspective.

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