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E-book
Author Myers, Perry, 1956- author.

Title Spiritual empires in Europe and India : cosmopolitan religious movements from 1875 to the interwar era / Perry Myers
Published Cham : Palgrave Macmillan, [2021]
©2021

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Description 1 online resource (xix, 333 pages) : illustrations
Contents Chapter 1: Introduction -- Chapter 2: Cosmopolitan Spirituality: Rectifying Materialism -- Chapter 3: The Progress Of Evolution And Spiritual Science -- Chapter 4: Re-Articulating History And Universal Visions -- Chapter 5: Spiritual Elites: Setting The Stage Of Social And Political Conviction -- Chapter 6: Merit-Based Karma And Social Engineering In Germany And France -- Chapter 7: Englands And Indias Spiritual Empire: Merit-Based Karma And Social Engineering -- Chapter 8: Cosmopolitan Spirituality: National Merit In Germany And France -- Chapter 9: A New And Improved Empire: British Spiritual Imperialism And Indian National Renewal -- Chapter 10: Epilogue
Summary This book provides a comparative analysis of cosmopolitan (esoteric) religious movements, such as Theosophy, Groupe Independent des Etudes Esoteriques, Anthroposophy, and Monism, in England, France, Germany, and India during the late nineteenth-century to the interwar years. Despite their diversity, these factions manifested a set of common featuresanti-materialism, embrace of Darwinian evolution, and a belief in universal spiritualitythat coalesced in a transnational field of analogous cosmopolitan spiritual affinities. Yet, in each of their geopolitical locations these groups developed vastly different interpretations and applications of their common spiritual tenets. This book explores how such religious innovation intersected with the social (labor and economic renewal), cultural (education and religious innovation) and political (Empire and anti-colonial) dynamics in these vastly different national domains. Ultimately, it illustrates how an innovative religious discourse converged with the secular world and became applied to envision a new social orderto spiritually re-engineer the world. Perry Myers is Professor of German Studies at Albion College in Michigan, USA
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Online resource; title from PDF title page (SpringerLink, viewed November 4, 2021)
Subject Religions -- History -- 19th century
Religions -- History -- 20th century
Religion
Religions
SUBJECT Europe -- Religion -- History -- 19th century
Europe -- Religion -- History -- 20th century
India -- Religion -- History -- 19th century
India -- Religion -- History -- 20th century
Subject Europe
India
Genre/Form History
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9783030810030
3030810038