The Value of Tantra
Markets, Modernity, and Mumbai’s Master of Mantra
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8207449 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lisa Björkman (University of Louisville, corresponding author), Patton Burchett (0009-0000-9926-9090, William & Mary), Patton E Burchett (William & Mary) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 89 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 885-908 |
| Publication date | 2021-09-29 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of the American Academy of Religion (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-7189 • E-ISSN: 1477-4585 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/jaarel/lfab072 |
| OpenAlex | W3202469022 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 25 |
This article examines the vibrant presence of tantric religiosity in contemporary India through a case study of a Mumbai-based tāntrika, whom we call Ramji Pandit, and of the ways in which his Tantra is co-constitutive of contemporary business practices and global market economies. We show how Ramji’s tantric ritual services – based firmly in mantras, yantras, and a “science” of vibrational resonance – trouble the conventional ways that religion and economy are often conceptualized as separate domains of value and practice, thought to act upon one another. At once mediating the contradictions of a market-forward liberal socio-economic order, subverting hegemonic forms of economic rationality, and reinforcing consumerist structures and values of late capitalism, Ramji’s tantric practice is of a piece with today’s global economy in ways that demand further exploration. By investigating the economic and spiritual value projects and goals in which Tantra is enlisted, this article explores the “value of Tantra” today in India and globally
Aesthetics · Capitalism · Economics · Economy · Epistemology · Hegemony · Homo economicus · Mantra · Modernity · Neoclassical economics · Political science · Rationality · Social science · Sociology · Tantra · Theology · Value (mathematics · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Law · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions
Selling Spirituality
On the moral perils of exchange
Provincializing Europe
Market and money
The Myth of Disenchantment
Five heads and no tale
Spiritual Economies
Value
The End of Magic
Can Tantra Make a Mātā Middle-Class
A Genealogy of Devotion
It is value that brings universes into being
Financial value
Millennial Capitalism
Pentecostalism and the morality of money
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2025 (2) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |