On the Social Organization of Rejected Knowledge: Reassessing the Sociology of the Occult

Egil Asprem

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Chapter 1 On the Social Organization of Rejected Knowledge

Reassessing the Sociology of the Occult

In: Esotericism and Deviance

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Egil Asprem

Egil Asprem
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 21–57

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004681040_003

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Abstract

The idea that esotericism is a form of “rejected knowledge” is back in vogue. This idea was also central to the so-called sociology of the occult of the 1970s, a research program that esotericism scholars have largely dismissed. Through a reassessment of this literature I argue that much of the criticism leveled at it missed the mark, and that mining it for theoretical resources can help us refine the field’s own undertheorized rejected knowledge narrative. In particular, the sociology of the occult offers useful tools for theorizing the historicity, substance, social significance, and social organization of esotericism as rejected knowledge.

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Esotericism and Deviance

Series: Aries Book Series, Volume: 33

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004681040

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 08 Dec 2023

Subjects
- Religious Studies

Front Matter

Part 1 Theorizing Deviance

Part 2 Historical Cases

Part 3 Concluding Remarks

Back Matter

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Chapter 1 On the Social Organization of Rejected Knowledge

Reassessing the Sociology of the Occult

Abstract

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Esotericism and Deviance

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