Resonant religiosities

rethinking mysticism, esotericism, and contemporary spiritualities through Hartmut Rosa

Abstract

This article examines the limits and possibilities of Hartmut Rosa’s sociology for understanding contemporary religiosities within the historical continuity linking mysticism, esotericism, the New Age, and so-called alternative spiritualities. Drawing on key concepts from Rosa’s sociology, particularly the notion of resonance, it engages central debates in the contemporary sociology of religion concerning the persistence and reinvention of esotericism in the twenty-first century. I argue that these phenomena can be understood as resonant religiosities, forms of spiritual experience structured by a responsive relationship between subject and world. From this perspective, Rosa’s concept of resonance expands the analytical framework for addressing phenomena that remain conceptually challenging within the sociology of religion, such as esotericism and New Age spiritualities. In this sense, resonant religiosities reveal a form of spirituality that presents itself as existing beyond religion while simultaneously reconfiguring the contemporary religious field.