Om-gnosis Episode 7: Interview with Julian Strube
In this seventh episode of Om-gnosis, we sit down with Prof. Julian Strube to discuss global esotericism, South Asia, the concept of occultism, and its intersections with political movements. After learning about Prof. Strube's background and his interest in esotericism, we shift our focus to his book, Socialism, Catholicism, and Occultism in Nineteenth-Century France (De Gruyter, 2016), examining the role Éliphas Lévi played in shaping both socialism and occult doctrines. We then explore how Prof. Strube's research has expanded to include South Asia and how “Occult South Asia” informs his work. The conversation progresses to Prof. Strube's latest book, Global Tantra (Oxford Univ. Press, 2022), which investigates the connections between John Woodroffe, the Arthur Avalon collaboration, Bengali intellectuals, and the Theosophy-inspired framework of Tantric Occultism. We conclude with a discussion on the social and political relevance of concepts like Occult South Asia, how the issues arising from these categories remain intertwined with historical discourses, and an overview of Prof. Strube's current research directions.
About Julian Strube
Julian Strube, PhD, is Chair of Religious Studies and Intercultural Theology at the University of Göttingen. He works on the relationship between religion and politics from a global historical perspective with a focus on exchange processes between India, East Asia, Europe, and North America. His research focuses on the relationship between modernity, tradition, and colonialism in India, völkisch movements, National Socialism, contemporary right-wing extremism, and early socialism, especially with regard to new and alternative religious movements, comparative religion, and questions of cultural exchange. His latest monograph, Global Tantra: Religion, Science, and Nationalism in Colonial Modernity, was published by Oxford University Press in 2022.
Transcript
Transcript will be available shortly.