About the author
Soma Chaudhuri is a sociologist whose work examines witchcraft accusations as a social and economic phenomenon rather than a supernatural one. The Witch Studies Reader (Duke University Press, 2025), a broad academic anthology, gathers scholarship on witches across healing, violence, gender, and death, treating the figure of the witch as a lens onto fundamental and often difficult human experiences. Witches, Tea Plantations, and Lives of Migrant Laborers in India: Tempest in a Teapot (Lexington Books) is a focused ethnographic study of witchcraft accusations inside a tea-worker community in India, combining theoretical analysis with fieldwork to explain how such accusations function within the labor and social structure of the plantations. Chaudhuri's work sits within sociology and gender studies, aimed at academic readers and anyone researching the social mechanisms behind witch-hunting rather than at practitioners of witchcraft.
📖 Where to start with Soma Chaudhuri
💬 What our editors say about Soma Chaudhuri's books
“This text is a rigorous academic intervention, not a casual guide for curious beginners. It demands engagement with complex theoretical frameworks regarding colonialism and patriarchy. Readers looking for practical spell-casting…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on The Witch Studies Reader
“Chaudhuri presents a rigorous, albeit dense, academic analysis that demands patience from the reader. While intellectually robust, this text is not suitable for those seeking narrative fiction or practical Wiccan guidance. It may…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on Witches, Tea Plantations, and Lives of Migrant Laborers in India: Tempest in a Teapot
