The global history of religion: back to the future?

Abstract

The article reconstructs the concept of J. Strube, a leading representative of the younger generation of esotericism researchers. In the first part of the article, his critical program is analyzed, it is established that he systematically deconstructed the existing ideas about Western esotericism with the help of a large source base. Starting with the demythologization of the story of the occult energy of Vril, he turned to the origins of the French esoteric community, finding them in the first generation of socialists. The second part examines the positive research program of Strube: having criticized global ideological attitudes (poststructuralism, postcolonialism, cultural relativism), he proceeded to substantiate a new religious studies program – global religious studies. To reveal its heuristic potential, Strube conducted a systematic reconstruction of the Western reception of Tantrism, including the identification of the esoteric background of Indian culture of the XIX century, the specifics of the activities of the theosophical society in India and the "Arthur Avalon project", which combined the efforts of the Shivachandra tantric school. Strube's research shows that the colonial process of appropriation of Indian doctrines by the West did not exist, in fact, esoteric discourse was a global form of constructing ideologies and identities around the world. Indians at the beginning of the XIX century used it to modernize the language of ancient religious doctrines, and later Bengalis with its help made a successful attempt to legitimize Tantra. In conclusion it is shown that the program of global religious studies is a revival of religious comparativism, but on a solid foundation based on new empirical material.