Magic in the Modern World: Strategies of Repression and Legitimization

This collection of essays considers the place of magic in the modern world, first by exploring the ways in which modernity has been defined in explicit opposition to magic and superstition, and then by illuminating how modern proponents of magic have worked to legitimize their practices through an overt embrace of evolving forms such as esotericism and supernaturalism.

Taking a two-track approach, this book explores the complex dynamics of the construction of the modern self and its relation...