The paper by Oleg Yarosh, “Entangled Sufism in the Late-Soviet esoteric milieu,” presented at the ENSIE meeting in Copenhagen on 25 June 2023, is now available as "Entangled Late Soviet Sufism" on the Research Blog of the German-Russian Research Project on New Age in Late Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia, at https://newageru.hypotheses.org/9971.
The abstract reads:
The complex esoteric milieu in Soviet society, although centered around influential figures and groups in major cities of the European part of the USSR, was not homogenous. Less noticeable peripheral areas in the eastern parts of the Soviet Union also contributed to the esoteric milieu, often introducing unique teachings and practices. The dynamic interplay between these central and peripheral regions informed a multifaceted esoteric underground that developed despite the still oppressive late Soviet political climate. My focus lies on the Sufi current within this milieu, which evolved from the reciprocal entanglement process between center-periphery dynamics, encompassing Western esoteric currents, parascience, and popular Sufism in the Muslim-majority regions of the USSR.
