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Buddhism and Nationalism (Buddhism)

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  1. Introduction
  2. Theoretical works pertaining to the birth and development of modern nationalism have a strong focus on Europe and the Americas. This is due to the axiomatic contention that nationalism originated in the West and only later spread to Asia and Africa in the course of European colonialism and imperialism. Such a conventional approach, positioning nationalism as the outcome of homogenizing historical processes in the fields of economy, education, print-capitalist culture, and industrial social organization, tend to overlook the significance of primordial ethno-religious loyalties for the emergence of nationalism. Buddhism, the dominant religion in large parts of East, South, and Southeast Asia, has played a crucial role in Asian nationalist movements. Given the close connection between Buddhism and traditional precolonial polities, particularly Burma (Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, it is not surprising that Buddhism was used to arouse nationalist sentiments against foreign powers, and that it contributed to new forms of national integration in the postcolonial period. It may be even argued that purely secular nationalism, without a major admixture of religious movements, has been rare in Asia. The identification of Western domination with Christianity, for example, gave rise to nationalist movements in mainland Southeast Asia to defend traditional cultural values in the midst of a process of social and economic modernization. Buddhists often embraced nationalism in the name of modernity. Regarding Buddhism as part of their indigenous heritage, Buddhists developed national pride. In Sri Lanka and Burma, Buddhism was identified with the history of the nation, and thus this religion was promoted as a tool to defend the nation against Western colonialism. In Thailand, the only noncolonialized country in Southeast Asia, Buddhism has constituted a pivotal pillar of “official state nationalism” since the late 19th century. In China, Buddhists also used their religion to counterbalance the challenges of Western cultural encroachments. In neighboring Japan, which actively embraced Western civilization, Buddhists tried to prove, in a defensive manner, that Buddhism represented a religious practice essential to Japanese cultural identity. In Korea, under Japanese colonial rule since 1910, and in Tibet, considered as part of China since the Qing dynasty, a Buddhist nationalism had to develop its own identities as distinct from Japanese and Chinese Buddhism, respectively. In the increasingly transnational, globalized world of the 21st century, Buddhism still provides a source of legitimacy for the nation-state, and a source of national identity for the majority populations in several Asian countries, sometimes directed against non-Buddhist (Muslim, Hindu, etc.) minorities perceived as cultural threats.
  3.  
  4. General Overview
  5. Buddhism in Asia encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs, and spiritual practices that differ from each other significantly. As a result, a comprehensive study of the relationship between Buddhism and the sociopolitical sphere, notably the religion’s role in nationalist movements, was lacking for a long time. The monumental work of the eminent German indologist Heinz Bechert (see Bechert 1966 and Bechert 1967) is restricted to the countries of the orthodox Theravada tradition, which is primarily practiced today in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. Though published in German half a century ago, this work remains an indispensable reference. A major breakthrough in the study of the relationship between Buddhism and politics in modern Asia is Harris 1999, though this edited volume does not include chapters dealing with China, Mongolia, and Bhutan. The dependence between Buddhism and the state in historical perspective is discussed in a rather comprehensive overview in Frydenlund 2013, while the edited volumes Jerryson and Juergensmeyer 2009 and Tikhonov and Brekke 2013 discuss the role of violence in Buddhism both historically and with regard to contemporary societies. In scholarly work on the origins of nationalism, it is sometimes overlooked that modern nationalism is not the outcome of a homogenizing historical process, but has often been contested by cultural revivalist movements, as emphasized by Walton 2017. Buddhist millenarian revolts against the centralizing policies of colonial or semicolonial domination at times contradicted the aspirations of nationalist movements (Ladwig and Shields 2014). The relations between political Buddhism and other religions is examined in Keyes 2016, which is, however, confined to the Theravada world’s relationship to Islam. The transnational ties of the East Asian and Southeast Asian Buddhist monastic orders and national articulations of Buddhism are highlighted in Borchert 2007, which explores the relationship between religion and nation in Asian countries with a significant Buddhist population.
  6.  
  7. Bechert, Heinz. Buddhismus, Staat und Gesellschaft in den Ländern des Theravāda-Buddhismus. Vol. 1, Grundlagen, Ceylon. Wiesbaden, Germany: Otto Harrassowitz, 1966.
  8.  
  9. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  10.  
  11. This work deals with theoretical considerations of the social and political role of Buddhism and provides a very detailed case study of Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
  12.  
  13. Find this resource:
  14.  
  15.  
  16. Bechert, Heinz. Buddhismus, Staat und Gesellschaft in den Ländern des Theravāda-Buddhismus. Vol. 2, Birma, Kambodscha, Laos, Thailand. Wiesbaden, Germany: Otto Harrassowitz, 1967.
  17.  
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  19.  
  20. This volume treats the developments in the Theravada countries of Southeast Asia, namely Burma (rather extensively), as well as Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos (more briefly). It also includes an excursus about the predominantly Mahayana Buddhist Vietnam. A third volume, published in 1973, contains a very detailed annotated bibliography reflecting the state of the art until the late 1960s, along with selected documents (in English).
  21.  
  22. Find this resource:
  23.  
  24.  
  25. Borchert, Thomas. “Buddhism, Politics, and Nationalism in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries.” Religion Compass 1 (2007): 529–546.
  26.  
  27. DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-8171.2007.00035.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  28.  
  29. Exploring the relationship between religion and nation in those Asian countries with a significant Buddhist population, the article emphasizes that contemporary Buddhism is marked by a tension between the transnational ties of the respective national Sanghas and national articulations of Buddhism. This main thesis is illustrated by the Dai (Tai) Lue minority in southern Yunnan, China.
  30.  
  31. Find this resource:
  32.  
  33.  
  34. Frydenlund, Iselin. “The Protection of Dharma and Dharma as Protection: Buddhism and Security across Asia.” In The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Security. Edited by Chris Seiple, Dennis Hoover, and Pauletta Otis, 102–112. Hoboken, NJ: Taylor and Francis, 2013.
  35.  
  36. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  37.  
  38. The chapter examines the relationship between Buddhism and the state in historical perspective. It also discusses the readiness of “neo-traditionalist” and “fundamentalist” Buddhism to support an ethno-nationalist state.
  39.  
  40. Find this resource:
  41.  
  42.  
  43. Harris, Ian, ed. Buddhism and Politics in Twentieth-Century Asia. London and New York: Pinter, 1999.
  44.  
  45. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  46.  
  47. An introductory exploration of the relationship between Buddhism and politics in modern Asia. Whereas the volume covers the whole of South and Southeast Asia, there are several lacunae for Central and East Asia (China, Mongolia, and Bhutan).
  48.  
  49. Find this resource:
  50.  
  51.  
  52. Jerryson, Michael, and Mark Juergensmeyer, eds. Buddhist Warfare. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.
  53.  
  54. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  55.  
  56. None of the eight contributions discuss directly the relationship between Buddhism and nationalism. However, the volume is important to understand the role of violence in Buddhism. Includes a translation into English of Paul Demiéville’s classical essay “Buddhism and War” (pp. 17–58).
  57.  
  58. Find this resource:
  59.  
  60.  
  61. Keyes, Charles. “Theravada Buddhism and Buddhist Nationalism: Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Thailand.” Review of Faith and International Affairs 14.4 (2016): 42–52.
  62.  
  63. DOI: 10.1080/15570274.2016.1248497Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  64.  
  65. This article examines briefly how Buddhist nationalism in four Theravada countries has shaped relations with members of other religions, notably with Muslim minorities, living in these countries.
  66.  
  67. Find this resource:
  68.  
  69.  
  70. Ladwig, Patrice, and James M. Shields. “Introduction to Against Harmony: Radical Buddhism in Thought and Practice.” Politics, Religion and Ideology 15.2 (2014): 187–204.
  71.  
  72. DOI: 10.1080/21567689.2014.898413Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  73.  
  74. The authors, specialists in Lao and Japanese Buddhism, respectively, give a general overview of Buddhist socialist radicalism and millennialism. As these movements were often directed against the state, they also reveal the tensions between Buddhist nationalism and the revival of local religious traditions.
  75.  
  76. Find this resource:
  77.  
  78.  
  79. Tikhonov, Vladimir, and Torkel Brekke, eds. Buddhism and Violence: Militarism and Buddhism in Asia. New York: Routledge, 2013.
  80.  
  81. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  82.  
  83. This volume evolved out of a workshop hosted by the University of Oslo in 2009. It is a collection of eleven essays discussing the participation of Buddhist monks in nationalist movements and their attitudes toward militarization and violence in their respective societies.
  84.  
  85. Find this resource:
  86.  
  87.  
  88. Walton, Matthew J. “Buddhism, Nationalism, and Governance.” In The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Buddhism. Edited by Michael Jerryson, 532–545. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
  89.  
  90. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  91.  
  92. This short but excellent overview article deals with the attitude of Buddhists toward political ideologies in various East and Southeast Asian societies. The author problematizes the overlappings and contestations of Buddhist nationalism and Buddhist revivalism.
  93.  
  94. Find this resource:
  95.  
  96.  
  97. East and Central Asia
  98. Whereas Buddhism in the Theravada countries, such as Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand, is considered part of the core of the ethno-national identity, this is not the case in the countries of East and Central Asia, with perhaps the exception of Tibet and Bhutan. In China and Japan, religious pluralism brought about competition between Buddhists and adherents of other religions in their efforts to embrace patriotic or nationalist sentiments, as seen in Tikhonov 2017. In Japan during the early Meiji period, Buddhism was even discriminated against by the modernizing nation-state, and Korean Buddhists adopted during the years of Japanese colonial rule a somehow ambiguous position oscillating between collaboration and resistance. Moreover, it seems that Mahayana Buddhists in East Asia were more inclined to universalist ideals than Buddhists in the Theravada world.
  99.  
  100. Tikhonov, Vladimir. “Contemporary Buddhism and Education.” In The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Buddhism. Edited by Michael Jerryson, 518–531. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
  101.  
  102. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  103.  
  104. The second part of this well-informed overview chapter deals with the role of Buddhism in the formation of national identities and culture exports, notably in East Asia.
  105.  
  106. Find this resource:
  107.  
  108.  
  109. China
  110. Scott 2011 deals with the contribution that Dai Jitao (b. 1890–d. 1949), a prominent Buddhist scholar during the Republican Era, made to the introduction of Buddhist ideas into the nationalist discourse beginning in the late 1920s. The role of Buddhist religious culture in the formation of the modern Chinese nation-state is explored in Tuttle 2007. Xue Yu’s monograph (Yu 2005) is the most significant work dealing with the participation of Buddhist monks in the anti-Japanese war (the Second Sino-Japanese War, 1937–1945). It deals in particular with the Mahayana Buddhist notion of “compassionate killing” used for justifying politicized Buddhism or extreme nationalism. This concept is also discussed in Zhao 2014, which further explores the relationship between Chinese and Japanese Buddhism, and nationalism and militarist ideology, against the background of the Sino-Japanese War. The relationship between Buddhism and the modern Chinese nation-state is discussed from various perspectives in the edited volume Ashiwa and Wank 2009. During the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), Buddhism suffered like other religions. Welch 1972 shows how Buddhism was disciplined in the context of Chinese nationalism under Mao Zedong.
  111.  
  112. Ashiwa, Yoshiko, and David Wank, eds. Making Religion, Making the State: The Politics of Religion in Modern China. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2009.
  113.  
  114. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  115.  
  116. Combining perspectives on religion with rich empirical data this volume examines how the modern category of “religion” is enacted in specific local contexts by a variety of actors from the late 19th century until the present. The contribution by Yoshiko Ashiwa (Chapter 3) deals with the relationship between Buddhism and the Chinese nation-state.
  117.  
  118. Find this resource:
  119.  
  120.  
  121. Jones, Charles Brewer. Buddhism in Taiwan: Religion and the State, 1660–1990. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1999.
  122.  
  123. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  124.  
  125. A fascinating account of the development of Buddhism in Taiwan during the Qing dynasty, the Japanese colonial period, and under the Chinese nationalist regime.
  126.  
  127. Find this resource:
  128.  
  129.  
  130. Scott, Gregory Adam. “The Buddhist Nationalism of Dai Jitao.” Journal of Chinese Religions 39.1 (2011): 55–81.
  131.  
  132. DOI: 10.1179/073776911806153899Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  133.  
  134. The article deals with the contribution that Dai Jitao (b. 1890–d. 1949), a prominent Buddhist scholar during the Republican Era, made to the introduction of Buddhist ideas into the nationalist discourse beginning in the late 1920s.
  135.  
  136. Find this resource:
  137.  
  138.  
  139. Tuttle, Gray. Tibetan Buddhists in the Making of Modern China. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007.
  140.  
  141. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  142.  
  143. This study explores the role of Buddhist religious culture in the formation of the modern Chinese nation-state, and examines its relationship to Tibet and Tibetan efforts to establish an independent nation-state. The author draws on previously unexamined archival material and personal memoirs of Chinese politicians and Buddhist monks.
  144.  
  145. Find this resource:
  146.  
  147.  
  148. Welch, Holmes. Buddhism under Mao. Harvard East Asian Series 69. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1972.
  149.  
  150. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  151.  
  152. The author describes how Buddhist institutions were controlled, utilized, and suppressed by the Communist authorities. Over eighty photographs illustrate the activities of monks, laypeople, and foreign visitors.
  153.  
  154. Find this resource:
  155.  
  156.  
  157. Yu, Xue. Buddhism, War and Nationalism: Chinese Monks in the Struggle against Japanese Agression, 1931–1945. London and New York: Routledge, 2005.
  158.  
  159. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  160.  
  161. This monograph is a most significant work on the participation of Buddhist monks in the anti-Japanese war (1937–1945). It deals in particular with the Mahayana Buddhist concept of “compassionate killing” used for justifying Buddhism nationalism in its extreme form. However, the author also documents resistance to the defense of militant forms of nationalism from the monastic establishment.
  162.  
  163. Find this resource:
  164.  
  165.  
  166. Zhao Dong. “Buddhism, Nationalism and War: A Comparative Evaluation of Chinese and Japanese Buddhists’ Reactions to the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945).” International Journal of Social Science and Humanity 4.5 (September 2014): 372–377.
  167.  
  168. DOI: 10.7763/IJSSH.2014.V4.381Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  169.  
  170. This concise analysis also explores the concept of “compassionate killing” as a tool for Buddhist clerics to justify the killing of enemies in the defense of the nation.
  171.  
  172. Find this resource:
  173.  
  174.  
  175. Tibet
  176. It is assumed that Tibetans did not develop a full-fledged nationalism prior to 1950. However, at least in central Tibet since the 13th or 14th century, Tibetans understood themselves as a Buddhist collective community with shared memories, for which Dreyfus 1994 considers the term “proto-nationalism” most appropriate. Klieger 1992 argues that structures of patronage, rooted in early Buddhism and reshaped throughout Tibetan history, have deeply influenced not only the symbiotic relationship between monks and laypeople, but also reinforce the distinctions between Tibetans on one side and Mongols and Manchus on the other. Though the status of Tibet according to international law after the end of the Qing dynasty (1911) has been a matter of dispute, “Outer Tibet,” which is more or less identical with the present-day Autonomous Region of Tibet, enjoyed a de facto independence after the Dalai Lama returned to Lhasa from India in July 1912 (see Lin 2006). Recently, Kuzmin 2016 concluded that Tibet before the 1950s met most basic criteria of statehood. The interaction between Buddhists and politicians in Tibet and China during the Republican period is also explored by Tuttle 2007. The importance of “Lamaism,” the Tibetan form of Buddhism, for the Tibetan cultural identity is highlighted in Samuel 1993. However, Kolås 1996 argues that at least among members of the numerous exile community, a secular concept of Tibet, rather than religious arguments, has become the dominant current of political discourse of Tibetan national identity. Finally, in the Indian controlled part of Ladakh, which historically had a majority of Tibetan Buddhists, Tibetan identity is challenged by Muslim immigration. According to Van Beek 2004, Ladakh nationalists seek to reassert Buddhist dominance by a “saffronisation of education” and a liaison with nationalist Hindus, a minority in the region.
  177.  
  178. Dreyfus, Georges. “Proto-nationalism in Tibet.” In Tibetan Studies: Proceedings of the 6th Seminar of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, Fagernes 1992. Vol. 1. Edited by P. Kvaerne, 205–218. Oslo: Institute for Comparative Research, 1994.
  179.  
  180. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  181.  
  182. Premodern Tibet, best described as a semi-bureaucratic state, is understood as a Buddhist collective community with shared memories, for which the author considers the term “proto-nationalism” appropriate.
  183.  
  184. Find this resource:
  185.  
  186.  
  187. Houston, Serin, and Richard Wright. “Making and Remaking Tibetan Diasporic Identities.” Social & Cultural Geography 4.2 (2003): 217–232.
  188.  
  189. DOI: 10.1080/14649360309062Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  190.  
  191. Provides an innovative exploration of national identities among the Tibetan diaspora (in India and Western countries) by theorizing “diaspora” as condition and process. Emphasizes the crucial role of the 14th Dalai Lama in creating a transnational nationalist political culture based on language, religion, and cultural expressions at the core of Tibetan identity.
  192.  
  193. Find this resource:
  194.  
  195.  
  196. Klieger, P. Christiaan. Tibetan Nationalism: The Role of Patronage in the Accomplishment of a National Identity. Meerut, India: Archana, 1992.
  197.  
  198. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  199.  
  200. In his monograph the author argues that structures of patronage, rooted in Tibetan Buddhism, have deeply influenced the relationship between monks and laypeople.
  201.  
  202. Find this resource:
  203.  
  204.  
  205. Kolås, Åshild. “Tibet Nationalism: The Politics of Religion.” Journal of Peace Research 33.1 (February 1996): 51–66.
  206.  
  207. DOI: 10.1177/0022343396033001004Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  208.  
  209. This article explores how Tibetan politics and religion inside Tibet are related to exile Tibetan groups in India.
  210.  
  211. Find this resource:
  212.  
  213.  
  214. Kuzmin, Sergius L. “Tibet as a State: International Law and Historical Facts.” In Greater Tibet: An Examination of Borders, Ethnic Boundaries, and Cultural Areas. Edited by P. Christiaan Klieger, 65–84. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2016.
  215.  
  216. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  217.  
  218. A thorough study of Tibetan statehood, based on historical facts as well as from the perspective of modern international law. The author concludes that Tibet before the 1950s met most basic criteria of statehood.
  219.  
  220. Find this resource:
  221.  
  222.  
  223. Lin, Hsiao-Ting. Tibet and Nationalist China’s Frontier: Intrigues and Ethnopolitics, 1928–49. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2006.
  224.  
  225. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  226.  
  227. The volume analyzes the Nationalist government’s policies on China’s southwestern ethnic borderlands, taking the Tibetan agenda as a case study. The role of Buddhism in the formation of Tibetan nationalism is, however, not the main focus.
  228.  
  229. Find this resource:
  230.  
  231.  
  232. Samuel, Geoffrey. Civilized Shamans: Buddhism in Tibetan Societies. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1993.
  233.  
  234. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  235.  
  236. Though not a book on Buddhist nationalism, this study is important for an understanding of the spiritual as well as the political power of the lamas and the role of charisma.
  237.  
  238. Find this resource:
  239.  
  240.  
  241. Schwartz, Ronald D. “Renewal and Resistance: Tibetan Buddhism in the Modern Era.” In Buddhism and Politics in Twentieth Century Asia. Edited by Ian Harris, 229–253. London: Bloomsbury, 2010.
  242.  
  243. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  244.  
  245. A brief overview of modern Tibetan Buddhism under Chinese Communist rule and in the diaspora. The main focus is on the 1987–1988 protests of Tibetan monks and nuns.
  246.  
  247. Find this resource:
  248.  
  249.  
  250. Tuttle, Gray. Tibetan Buddhists in the Making of Modern China. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007.
  251.  
  252. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  253.  
  254. Beyond exploring interactions between Buddhists and politicians in Tibet and China, Tuttle offers new insights on the impact of modern ideas of nationalism, race, and religion in East Asia.
  255.  
  256. Find this resource:
  257.  
  258.  
  259. Van Beek, Martijn. “Dangerous Liaisons: Hindu Nationalism and Buddhist Radicalism in Ladakh.” In Religious Radicalism and Security in South Asia. Edited by Satu P. Limaye, Mohan Malik, and Robert G. Wirsing, 193–218. Honolulu: Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, 2004.
  260.  
  261. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  262.  
  263. Concise overview of the history of the Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA), founded in 1933. The Ladakh population, though predominantly cultural Tibetan, is at present divided in equal proportions into Buddhists and Muslims. One strategy of the LBA to reassert Buddhist dominance is an alliance with nationalist Hindus.
  264.  
  265. Find this resource:
  266.  
  267.  
  268. Bhutan
  269. The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan has been an independent nation-state since 1907, as explained in Aris 1994. Despite its claims to secularity, Bhutan is a unique model of Buddhist constitutionalism that differs both from Western secular and Islamic theocratic states. In a comparative study of Bhutan’s 2007 constitution, Lee 2014 argues that although Buddhism is not the official religion in the small Himalayan kingdom, Buddhist values are constitutionally enshrined as a source of public law. The country’s educational system instills Buddhist values as intrinsically tied to Bhutanese national identity. Saul 2000 explores the international legal aspects of the discriminatory policies of the Bhutanese authorities against Nepali Hindu immigrants, roughly 100,000 of whom have been forced to leave the country since 1990. The author argues that the state in Bhutan, which is under the control of Buddhist “northerners,” pursues an exclusionary cultural nationalism directed against the predominantly Hindu “southerners.” Hutt 1996 perceives this “ethnic cleansing” as the result of a conflict between two differing modes of ethnic nationalism: the new style of nationalism promoted by the Bhutanese state since the late 1980s, and the demotic nationalism of the cross-border Nepali population of the wider region.
  270.  
  271. Aris, Michael. The Raven Crown: The Origins of Buddhist Monarchy in Bhutan. London: Serindia, 1994.
  272.  
  273. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  274.  
  275. Dealing with the history of the Bhutanese monarchy since 1822, this richly illustrated volume touches only briefly on the issue of Buddhist nationalism in the Himalayan kingdom.
  276.  
  277. Find this resource:
  278.  
  279.  
  280. Ferraro, Matthew F. “Stateless in Shangri-La: Minority Rights, Citizenship, and Belonging in Bhutan.” Stanford Journal of International Law 48 (2012): 405–435.
  281.  
  282. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  283.  
  284. A critical assessment of Bhutan’s growing restrictions on citizenship, based on an analysis of the 2007 constitution. One map shows the predominantly Nepali-speaking districts in Bhutan and districts in Nepal hosting refugees from Bhutan. The Appendix includes a compilation of citizens’ rights in the Bhutanese constitution.
  285.  
  286. Find this resource:
  287.  
  288.  
  289. Hutt, Michael. “Ethnic Nationalism, Refugees and Bhutan.” Journal of Refugee Studies 9.4 (1996): 397–420.
  290.  
  291. DOI: 10.1093/jrs/9.4.397Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  292.  
  293. This article discusses the plight of almost 100,000 Bhutanese refugees in Nepal.
  294.  
  295. Find this resource:
  296.  
  297.  
  298. Lee, Darius. “Here There Be Dragons! Buddhist Constitutionalism in the Hidden Land of Bhutan.” Australian Journal of Asian Law 15.1 (2014): Article 2: 1–19.
  299.  
  300. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  301.  
  302. This is the revised version of a Bachelor of Laws thesis that analyzes the case of Bhutan against the background of the constitution of other Buddhist countries in the world.
  303.  
  304. Find this resource:
  305.  
  306.  
  307. Saul, Ben. “Cultural Nationalism, Self‐Determination and Human Rights in Bhutan.” International Journal of Refugee Law 12.3 (2000): 321–353.
  308.  
  309. DOI: 10.1093/ijrl/12.3.321Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  310.  
  311. The article deals with the discriminatory policies of the Bhutanese authorities against Nepali Hindu immigrants, many of whom have been forced to leave the country since 1990. The author is a legal expert working for the Australian Law Reform Commission.
  312.  
  313. Find this resource:
  314.  
  315.  
  316. Mongolia
  317. Squeezed between two overwhelmingly powerful neighbors, Russia (or the Soviet Union) and China, who considered Mongolia a “buffer zone” of geopolitical and economic importance, Mongolian nationalism faced enormous challenges over the course of the 20th century. Sablin 2016 discusses how the ideologies of Marxist-Leninist-inspired socialism and nationalism, along with Buddhism, became interconnected in the establishment of Communist people’s republics in the Mongol world, following the collapse of the Russian and Qing empires. Elverskog 2008 traces the roots of Mongolian nationalism in the early 20th century back to the policies of the Manchu rulers of China, who controlled the Mongols through their patronage of Tibetan Buddhism by promoting the cohesiveness of local groups. Elverskog’s monographic work is reviewed in Ishihama 2008 which highlights the author’s neglect of Tibetan and Chinese sources and criticizes Elverskop’s notion of a “subconscious Mongol nationalism.” An innovative concept of “collaborative nationalism” is developed in Bulag 2010 to explore the problems encountered by nationalists who depend on outside support to realize their national identities.
  318.  
  319. Bulag, Uradyn. “From Empire to Nation: The Demise of Buddhism in Inner Mongolia.” In The Mongolia-Tibet Interface: Opening New Research Terrains in Inner Asia. Proceedings of the 10th seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies. Edited by Uradyn E. Bulag and Hildegard G. M. Diemberger. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2007.
  320.  
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  322.  
  323. This article summarizes key arguments developed by the author in his later monograph (Bulag 2010).
  324.  
  325. Find this resource:
  326.  
  327.  
  328. Bulag, Uradyn. Collaborative Nationalism: The Politics of Friendship on China’s Mongolian Frontier. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2010.
  329.  
  330. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  331.  
  332. This innovative monograph develops the concept of “collaborative nationalism” to explore the problems encountered by nationalists who depend on outside support to realize their national identities. It sheds new light on the significance of Inner Mongolia for Mongolian nationalists.
  333.  
  334. Find this resource:
  335.  
  336.  
  337. Elverskog, Johan. Our Great Qing: The Mongols, Buddhism and the State in Late Imperial China. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2008.
  338.  
  339. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  340.  
  341. This study draws heavily on previously untapped Mongolian sources. The author rewrites the political and intellectual history of Mongolia during the period c. 1500–1900. In chapter 5 it is argued that the Manchu rulers of China who controlled the Mongols through their patronage of Tibetan Buddhism promoted the cohesiveness of local groups, thereby laying the groundwork for Mongolian nationalism in the early 20th century.
  342.  
  343. Find this resource:
  344.  
  345.  
  346. Ishihama, Yumiko. Review of Our Great Qing: The Mongols, Buddhism and the State in Late Imperial China, by Johan Elverskog. Journal of Chinese Studies 48 (2008): 511–516.
  347.  
  348. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  349.  
  350. Review of Elverskog 2008. The reviewer criticizes Elverskog’s neglect of relevant Tibetan and Chinese sources and his “indifference to the Tibet-Mongol cultural intercourse.” Elverskog is also criticized for a “subconscious Mongol nationalism.”
  351.  
  352. Find this resource:
  353.  
  354.  
  355. Sablin, Ivan. Governing Post-Imperial Siberia and Mongolia, 1911–1924: Buddhism, Socialism, and Nationalism in State and Autonomy Building. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, 2016.
  356.  
  357. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  358.  
  359. Based on extensive original research, this study deals mainly with the emergence of a Marxist-Leninist inspired nationalism, coexisting with a Buddhist theocracy, in the Soviet Buryat Republic. Several maps.
  360.  
  361. Find this resource:
  362.  
  363.  
  364. Wallace, Vesna A., ed. Buddhism in Mongolian History, Culture, and Society. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.
  365.  
  366. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  367.  
  368. The volume brings together an interdisciplinary group of leading scholars who explore the ways in which Mongolian Buddhists saw Buddhism as inseparable from “Mongolness.” It shows how Buddhism experienced significant transformations during supportive regimes of the Mongol and Qing empires, suppression by Communist regimes, and a revitalization under a democratic, post-socialist government.
  369.  
  370. Find this resource:
  371.  
  372.  
  373. Korea
  374. Korean Buddhists developed their sense of national identity in the late 19th century, stimulated by the Korea’s opening to Western civilization in 1876 and the colonization by Japan in 1910. Threatened by the rapid spread of Christianity and Japanese Buddhism on the Korean peninsula, Korean Buddhists developed a sense of their own independent identity by identifying Buddhism as the backbone of Korean history and culture. As Buswell 1998 demonstrates, a national Korean Buddhist identity distinct from that of Japanese Buddhists was constructed. Buswell’s discussion of Han Yongun (b. 1879–d. 1944), a Buddhist monk and poet who played a pivotal role in the anti-Japanese independence movement of 1919, is further deepened in Tikhonov and Miller 2008. Park 2009 develops further the thesis that Korean Buddhism during the colonial period can be characterized as a series of endeavors among Buddhist leaders to reform their own tradition; to create a new, modern identity; and to make their religion socially responsive and nationally beneficial. Updated perspectives of Korean Buddhism under Japanese colonial rule is provided by Sørensen 2010, which deals with the phenomenon of both nationalist resistance by Buddhist monks and the sometimes overlooked collaboration of parts of the Korean Buddhist Sangha with the Japanese regime, seeking favors from it. Baker 2011 discusses Korean Buddhist nationalism in the second half of this article, while the first half deals with Christian nationalism in Korea. Missionary activities of the Jogye Order and of several smaller, “new” Buddhist movements, such as Won Buddhism, stress the uniqueness of Korea in a Buddhist transformation of the world.
  375.  
  376. Baker, Donald. “Globalization, Nationalism, and Korean Religion in the 21st Century.” Asia Pacific Perspectives 10.1 (May 2011): 24–43.
  377.  
  378. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  379.  
  380. Korean Buddhist nationalism is discussed in the second half of this article, while the first half deals with Christian nationalism in Korea. Missionary activities of the Jogye Order and of several smaller, “new” Buddhist movements, such as Won Buddhism, stress the uniqueness of Korea in a Buddhist transformation of the globe.
  381.  
  382. Find this resource:
  383.  
  384.  
  385. Buswell, Robert E., Jr. “Imagining ‘Korean Buddhism’: The Invention of a National Religious Tradition.” In Nationalism and the Construction of Korean Identity. Edited by Hyung Il Pai and Timothy R. Tangherlini, 73–105. Berkeley, CA: Institute of East Asian Studies, 1998.
  386.  
  387. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  388.  
  389. The author provides a concise overview of the historical development of Korean Buddhism since earliest times. The main focus, however, is placed on the activities of Han Yongun (b. 1879–d. 1944), a Buddhist monk, social and religious reformer, and renowned poet who was one of the thirty-three leaders of the movement for independence from Japanese rule that started on 1 March 1919.
  390.  
  391. Find this resource:
  392.  
  393.  
  394. Kim, Hwansoo. Review of Trial and Error in Modernist Reforms, by Pori Park. H-Net Reviews in the Humanities & Social Sciences (November 2010).
  395.  
  396. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  397.  
  398. The reviewer praises Park 2009 as a solid study that sets the terms for further research on Korean Buddhism during the colonial era, and is recommended to be used “as a core textbook for classes on modern Korean and East Asian Buddhism.”
  399.  
  400. Find this resource:
  401.  
  402.  
  403. Park, Pori. Trial and Error in Modernist Reforms: Korean Buddhism under Colonial Rule. Berkeley, CA: Institute of East Asian Studies, 2009.
  404.  
  405. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  406.  
  407. The theme of the reform of Korean Buddhism undergirds Park’s discussion throughout. This monograph is the revised version of the author’s PhD thesis, “The Modern Remaking of Korean Buddhism: The Korean Reform Movement during Japanese Colonial Rule and Han Yong’uns’s Buddhism (1879–1944),” submitted to the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1998.
  408.  
  409. Find this resource:
  410.  
  411.  
  412. Sørensen, Henrik H. “Buddhism and Secular Power in Twentieth-Century Korea.” In Buddhism and Politics in Twentieth Century Asia. Edited by Ian Harris, 127–152. London: Bloomsbury, 2010.
  413.  
  414. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  415.  
  416. Overview of Korean Buddhism under Japanese colonial rule—dealing with the phenomenon of both collaboration and nationalist resistance by Buddhist monks—and in postwar South Korea.
  417.  
  418. Find this resource:
  419.  
  420.  
  421. Tikhonov, Vladimir, and Owen Miller. Selected Writings of Han Yongun: From Social Darwinism to “Socialism with a Buddhist Face.” Folkestone, UK: Global Oriental, 2008.
  422.  
  423. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  424.  
  425. This is a fine collection of writings of a prolific writer and outstanding poet who was one of the most prominent Buddhist activists in the independence movement during the more than half a century of Japanese rule in Korea.
  426.  
  427. Find this resource:
  428.  
  429.  
  430. Japan
  431. In Japan, the Meiji state (1868–1912) actively supported the adoption of Western civilization. Associating Buddhism with the previous Tokugawa regime, the government carried out nationwide measures against the Buddhist establishment and propagated the Shinto cult as a national ideology distinctive from Buddhism. To counter the Meiji government’s policy of destroying Buddhist institutions, Japanese Buddhists offered their services to the new regime in order to soften the persecution. Takeshi 2001 and Gier 2014 argue that Japanese Buddhists claimed that the Japanese version of Buddhism was a truly indigenous practice, and also a fortress to defend the Japanese nation against the perceived menace of Christianity. Several articles in the edited volume Heisig and Maraldo 1994 also deal with this self-defensive Buddhist nationalism in Japan. Kawanami 2010 investigates how the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist monk Nichiren (b. 1222–d. 1282) not only influenced ultra-nationalist and imperialist movements the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but also inspired peace activists, such as Ikeda Daisaku (b. 1928), founding president of the Soka Gakkai, the largest of Japan’s new religious movements. The role of Zen Buddhism in the development of Japanese ultra-nationalism and militarism before and during World War II is closely examined in Ives 2009. Victoria 1997 even opines that Zen Buddhism sought a close alliance and opposed any movement threatening the emperor system and militarist ideology. Moreover, Porcu 2008 and several contributions in Hubbard and Swanson 1997 analyze the impact of several Buddhist scholars (e.g., Okakura Kakuzo and Yanagi Soetsu) on Japanese cultural nationalism. Sharf 1995 explores the notion of Zen as a transcultural truth that is nevertheless considered the unique property of the Japanese nation. At a more theoretical level, Doak 1994 discusses the conceptual distinction between the ethnic nation (minzuku) and the nation-state (kokka), a debate of the 1930s in which Buddhist scholars also became involved.
  432.  
  433. Doak, Keven M. “Nationalism as Dialectics: Ethnicity, Moralism, and the State in Early Twentieth-Century Japan.” In Rude Awakenings: Zen, the Kyoto School, and the Question of Nationalism. Edited by James W. Heisig and John C. Maraldo, 151–173. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1994.
  434.  
  435. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  436.  
  437. Discusses the conceptual distinction between the ethnic nation (minzuku) and the nation-state (kokka), a debate of the 1930s in which Buddhist scholars also took part.
  438.  
  439. Find this resource:
  440.  
  441.  
  442. Gier, Nicholas F. “Buddhism and Japanese Nationalism: A Sad Chronicle of Complicity.” In The Origins of Religious Violence: An Asian Perspective. By Nicholas F. Gier, 183–200. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2014.
  443.  
  444. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  445.  
  446. Chapter 7 of Gier’s book discusses Japanese nationalism and Buddhist involvement in the imperial war efforts. Gier considers the fusion of religious and national identity as the primary cause of religious violence. He argues that Buddhist complicity with Japanese militarism can be understood as an effort to prove one’s belonging to the nation after Buddhism was persecuted during the early Meiji era for being “not Japanese.”
  447.  
  448. Find this resource:
  449.  
  450.  
  451. Heisig, James W., and John C. Maraldo, eds. Rude Awakenings: Zen, the Kyoto School, and the Question of Nationalism. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1994.
  452.  
  453. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  454.  
  455. Three of fourteen contributions (by Doak, Sharf, and Ueda) deal explicitly with various aspects of the impact of Buddhist schools on the development of Japanese nationalism.
  456.  
  457. Find this resource:
  458.  
  459.  
  460. Hubbard, Jamie, and Paul L. Swanson, eds. Pruning the Bodhi Tree: The Storm over Critical Buddhism. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 1997.
  461.  
  462. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  463.  
  464. This is a collection of twenty-two essays, of which only half are original contributions. Three essays (by Sueki Fumihiko, Matsumoto Shiro, and Ruben Habito) discuss issues related to aspects of Japanese cultural nationalism.
  465.  
  466. Find this resource:
  467.  
  468.  
  469. Ives, Christopher. Imperial-Way Zen: Ichikawa Hakugen’s critique and lingering questions for Buddhist ethics. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2009.
  470.  
  471. DOI: 10.21313/hawaii/9780824833312.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  472.  
  473. Most relevant for understanding Buddhist views of Japanese nationalism is chapter 4 (“Modern Buddhism for the Protection of the Realm”).
  474.  
  475. Find this resource:
  476.  
  477.  
  478. Kawanami, Hiroko. “Japanese Nationalism and the Universal Dharma.” In Buddhism and Politics in Twentieth Century Asia. Edited by Ian Harris, 105–126. London: Bloomsbury, 2010.
  479.  
  480. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  481.  
  482. Brief overview of nationalistic strands of Japanese Buddhism in the 20th century, with an emphasis on Nichiren Buddhism and the postwar Soka Gakkai group and its political wing, the Komeito.
  483.  
  484. Find this resource:
  485.  
  486.  
  487. Porcu, Elisabetta. Pure Land Buddhism in Modern Japanese Culture. Leiden, The Netherlands, and Boston: Brill, 2008.
  488.  
  489. DOI: 10.1163/ej.9789004164710.i-263Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  490.  
  491. The book developed from the author’s PhD dissertation submitted to the University of Marburg in 2006. Reflecting upon recent scholarship on Orientalism and Occidentalism, this work studies the impact of the Pure Land traditions, notably of Shin Buddhism, on various aspects of artistic expression in modern and contemporary Japan.
  492.  
  493. Find this resource:
  494.  
  495.  
  496. Sharf, Robert H. “The Zen of Japanese Nationalism.” In Curators of the Buddha: The Study of Buddhism under Colonialism. Edited by Donald L. Lopez Jr., 107–160. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.
  497.  
  498. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  499.  
  500. This essay explores the views of modern Zen Buddhist scholars, such as Nishida Kitaro, D. T. Suzuki, and Shin’ichi Hisamatsu, on Zen as a transcultural truth that is nevertheless considered the unique property of the Japanese nation.
  501.  
  502. Find this resource:
  503.  
  504.  
  505. Shields, James Mark. Critical Buddhism: Engaging with Modern Japanese Buddhist Thought. Farnham, UK, and Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2011.
  506.  
  507. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  508.  
  509. The first monographic treatment of Critical Buddhism (hihan bukkyo) as both a philosophical and a religious movement. Though not dealing directly with the relationship of Buddhism and nationalism, this work is useful for a better understanding of modern Japanese Buddhism.
  510.  
  511. Find this resource:
  512.  
  513.  
  514. Takeshi, Fujii. “Nationalism and Japanese Buddhism in the late Tokugawa period and early Meiji.” In Religion and National Identity in the Japanese Context. BUNKA: Tuebingen Intercultural and Linguistic Studies on Japan 5. Edited by Klaus Antoni, Hiroshi Kubota, Johann Nawrocki, and Michael Wachutka, 107–118. Münster: LIT Verlag, 2001.
  515.  
  516. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  517.  
  518. This paper discusses the changes of religious policies in the period 1868–1889 and the role the Buddhist priest Shimaji Mokurai (b. 1838–d. 1911) played in relation to this matter.
  519.  
  520. Find this resource:
  521.  
  522.  
  523. Victoria, Brian (Daizen). Zen at War. New York: Weatherhill, 1997.
  524.  
  525. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  526.  
  527. The author, himself a Soto Zen priest, offers new insights into the close relationship that existed between Zen Buddhism and Japanese ultra-nationalism and militarism through World War II. He argues that Zen Buddhism sought a close alliance and opposed any movement threatening the emperor system and militarist ideology.
  528.  
  529. Find this resource:
  530.  
  531.  
  532. South and Southeast Asia
  533. Few works discuss the relationship between Buddhism and nationalism in the Theravada world of South and Southeast Asia in a comparative perspective. One notable exception is Swearer 2010, which provides a comprehensive analysis of the social and political role of Buddhism in the cultural milieu of Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka. The chapter “Modern Nationalism and Buddhism” gives a well-informed overview of the relationship between the Sangha and the nation-state in the various countries of the Theravada world. More in-depth overviews of the relationship between Buddhism and the political order in Thailand, Laos, and Burma from a historical perspective appear in Smith 1978. The little-known role played by Thai and other Southeast Asian Buddhists in Cold War politics is examined in Ford 2012. During the Cold War, nationalism and Buddhism were exploited by both sides of the ideological divide. Contemporary human rights practices of governments in South and Southeast Asian in which Buddhism is the majority religion are investigated in Keyes 2011 and Keyes 2016. Most comparative studies, such as Schober 2006, Gravers 2015, and Schonthal and Walton 2016, focus on the phenomenon of a new anti-Muslim-oriented Buddhist nationalism in Sri Lanka and Burma.
  534.  
  535. Ford, Eugene. “Cold War Monks: An International History of Buddhism, Politics and Regionalism in Thailand and Southeast Asia 1941–1976.” PhD diss., Yale University, 2012.
  536.  
  537. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  538.  
  539. This dissertation explores the complex and often uneasy role played by Thai and other Southeast Asian Buddhists in Cold War politics. The project also examines the history of clandestine efforts to mobilize Buddhism as part of US Cold War strategy in the region.
  540.  
  541. Find this resource:
  542.  
  543.  
  544. Gravers, Mikael. “Anti-Muslim Buddhist Nationalism in Burma and Sri Lanka: Religious Violence and Globalised Imaginaries of Endangered Identities.” Contemporary Buddhism: An Interdisciplinary Journal 16.1 (2015): 1–17.
  545.  
  546. DOI: 10.1080/14639947.2015.1008090Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  547.  
  548. The author argues that anti-Muslim Buddhist nationalism in present-day Sri Lanka and Burma resorts to a traditional cosmological imaginary of a decline in the Buddhist doctrine and a modern globalist notion of Islam as a religion that attempts to extinguish Buddhism.
  549.  
  550. Find this resource:
  551.  
  552.  
  553. Keyes, Charles. “Buddhism, Human Rights and Non-Buddhist Minorities.” In Religion and the Global Politics of Human Rights. Edited by Thomas Banchoff and Robert Wuthnow, 157–192. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
  554.  
  555. DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195343397.003.0007Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  556.  
  557. This chapter examines the actual human rights practices of governments in societies in which Buddhism is the majority religion. These are Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon), Burma (Myanmar), Thailand (formerly known as Siam), Cambodia, and Bhutan.
  558.  
  559. Find this resource:
  560.  
  561.  
  562. Keyes, Charles. “Theravada Buddhism and Buddhist Nationalism: Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Thailand.” Review of Faith and International Affairs 14.4 (2016): 42–52.
  563.  
  564. DOI: 10.1080/15570274.2016.1248497Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  565.  
  566. The author discusses primarily recent nationalist actions of Buddhist monks and lay activists directed against Muslim minorities in their respective countries.
  567.  
  568. Find this resource:
  569.  
  570.  
  571. Schober, Juliane. “Buddhism, Violence, and the State in Burma (Myanmar) and Sri Lanka.” In Religion in South and Southeast Asia: Disrupting Violence. Edited by Linell E. Cady and Sheldon W. Simon, 51–69. London and New York: Routledge, 2006.
  572.  
  573. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  574.  
  575. The author discusses the role of Buddhist monks as facilitators and victims of the 1988 uprising in Burma, their role in the anti-Muslim persecution of 1997, and the Sinhalese Sangha’s viewpoint toward the justification of violence in the defense of Sinhalese ethnic identity.
  576.  
  577. Find this resource:
  578.  
  579.  
  580. Schonthal, Benjamin, and Matthew J. Walton. “The (New) Buddhist Nationalisms? Symmetries and Specificities in Sri Lanka and Myanmar.” Contemporary Buddhism: An Interdisciplinary Journal 17.1 (2016): 1–35.
  581.  
  582. DOI: 10.1080/14639947.2016.1162419Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  583.  
  584. This article offers new insights and perspectives on three Buddhist nationalist groups in Sri Lanka (Bodu Bala Sēnā) and Burma (969 Movement and Ma Ba Tha) that have garnered considerable popular support through modern mass media. The co-authors combine their area expertise (Schonthal on Sri Lanka and Walton on Burma) in an exceptionally informative and well-argued piece of scholarship.
  585.  
  586. Find this resource:
  587.  
  588.  
  589. Smith, Bardwell L., ed. Religion and Legitimation of Power in Thailand, Laos, and Burma. Chambersburg, PA: Anima Books, 1978.
  590.  
  591. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  592.  
  593. A collection of papers on the relationship between the religious and political orders in the Theravada Buddhist countries of Southeast Asia, except Cambodia. These papers were originally presented at a 1975 meeting of the Canadian Association for South Asian Studies and the American Academy of Religion.
  594.  
  595. Find this resource:
  596.  
  597.  
  598. Swearer, Donald K. The Buddhist World of Southeast Asia. 2d ed. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2010.
  599.  
  600. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  601.  
  602. This frequently quoted reference book on Southeast Asian Buddhism contains a chapter on “Modern Nationalism and Buddhism” (pp. 109–128) that provides a well-informed overview of the relationship between the Sangha and the nation-state in the various countries of the Theravada world.
  603.  
  604. Find this resource:
  605.  
  606.  
  607. Sri Lanka
  608. Sinhalese nationalism is inextricably intertwined with Buddhism in a rather exceptional way. According to Bechert 1973, the contemporary belief that the Sinhalese nation plays a unique role for the preservation of Buddhism is by no means a modern phenomenon, but is deeply embodied by Sinhalese historiographical works, such as the Buddhist Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa chronicles that date from the 5th century CE. Bechert sees the Sinhalese nation as one of the first that created a sense of national identity grounded in the unity of language, culture, and religion. Obeyesekere 2004 and Blackburn 2010 support the idea that a Buddhist Sinhalese “nation” already existed in colonial and precolonial times. Analyzing the power attributed to historical narratives in medieval Sri Lanka, Berkwitz 2004 connects classical textual studies with nationalism in contemporary Sri Lanka. The myth of Sri Lanka as a sacred Buddhist land contributes to the centrality of violence in Sinhalese Buddhism, as Bartholomeusz 2002 emphasizes. The religious justification of violence directed against ethnic and religious minorities considered as “outsiders” by Sinhalese nationalists is also discussed in Weiberg-Salzmann 2014 and Roberts 1996. Berkwitz 2008 examines Buddhist nationalism as an effort to resist the intrusion of globalizing forces into local religious and cultural heritage. By looking at the life of Venerable Gangodawila Soma (b. 1948–d. 2003), a renowned and controversial Buddhist monk, Berkwitz demonstrates that Buddhist nationalism is largely a discursive formation that affirms an essential relationship between Buddhism and nation standing against external forces threatening their very existence. Spencer, et al. 1990 is unique in its discussion of the problems social anthropologists encounter in their study of (ethno-religious) nationalism by using Spencer’s own fieldwork with Sinhalese Buddhists communities as a point of departure. For a brief and concise overview of post-independent Buddhist “fundamentalism” and nationalism, Bartholomeusz 2010 is recommended.
  609.  
  610. Bartholomeusz, Tessa. In Defense of Dharma: Just-War Ideology in Buddhist Sri Lanka. London: Routledge, 2002.
  611.  
  612. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  613.  
  614. In her posthumously published book, the author provides evidence for the centrality of violence in Sinhala Buddhism, which is connected to the myth of Sri Lanka as a sacred Buddhist land. The seeds for violence, however, are not seen as Sinhalese aberrations of a “true Theravada tradition,” but are instead located in canonical Buddhist texts such as the Dhammapada.
  615.  
  616. Find this resource:
  617.  
  618.  
  619. Bartholomeusz, Tessa. “First among Equals: Buddhism and the Sri Lankan State.” In Buddhism and Politics in Twentieth Century Asia. Rev. ed. Edited by Ian Harris, 173–193. London: Bloomsbury, 2010.
  620.  
  621. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  622.  
  623. A brief and concise overview of Sangha-state relations from the precolonial and colonial times until the present day; discussion of post-independence Buddhist “fundamentalism” and nationalism.
  624.  
  625. Find this resource:
  626.  
  627.  
  628. Bechert, Heinz. “Sangha, State, Society, ‘Nation’: Persistence of Traditions in ‘Post-Traditional’ Buddhist Societies.” Daedalus 102.1 (Winter 1973): 85–95.
  629.  
  630. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  631.  
  632. Exploration of Buddhist political thinking in Theravada countries. Sri Lanka constitutes the main case study. Provides an instructive analysis of state-Sangha relations in the precolonial period.
  633.  
  634. Find this resource:
  635.  
  636.  
  637. Berkwitz, Stephan C. Buddhist History in the Vernacular: The Power of the Past in Late Medieval Sri Lanka. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2004.
  638.  
  639. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  640.  
  641. This careful study focusing on the thirteenth-century Sinhala Thupavaṃsa examines how historical works can be directed to religious ends.
  642.  
  643. Find this resource:
  644.  
  645.  
  646. Berkwitz, Stephan C. “Resisting the Global in Buddhist Nationalism: Venerable Soma’s Discourse of Decline and Reform.” Journal of Asian Studies 67.1 (2008): 73–106.
  647.  
  648. DOI: 10.1017/S002191180800003XSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  649.  
  650. Discussing the life and work of an influential and controversial Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka, the author seeks to shed new light on the relationship between Buddhism and nationalism in the age of a globalized mass media culture.
  651.  
  652. Find this resource:
  653.  
  654.  
  655. Blackburn, Anne M. Locations of Buddhism: Colonialism and Modernity in Sri Lanka. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010.
  656.  
  657. DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226055091.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  658.  
  659. Profound study of a single figure within 19th-century Sinhalese Buddhism: Hikkaḍuvē Sumaṅgala. The fifth chapter deals with Sinhalese (proto-)nationalism when discussing Hikkaḍuvē’s desire to restore a Lankan Sangha for the protection and oversight of a proper Buddhist monarch.
  660.  
  661. Find this resource:
  662.  
  663.  
  664. Obeyesekere, Gananath. Buddhism, Nationhood and Cultural Identity: The Premodern and Pre-colonial Formations. Lecture at the Course on Ethnicity, Identity and Conflict, Colombo, August 9, 2002. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Centre for Ethnic Studies, 2004.
  665.  
  666. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  667.  
  668. Taking issue with Benedict Anderson’s fundamental assumptions on the birth of modern nationalism, the author stresses the importance of premodern formations of national identity. He argues for the idea of a Buddhist Sinhalese “nation” in colonial and precolonial political formations in Sri Lanka.
  669.  
  670. Find this resource:
  671.  
  672.  
  673. Roberts, Michael. “Teaching Lessons, Removing Evil: Strands of Moral Puritanism in Sinhala Nationalist Practice.” In Special Issue: Asia and Europe: Commerce, Colonialism and Cultures. Edited by M. N. Pearson. South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies 19 Suppl. 001 (1996): 205–220.
  674.  
  675. DOI: 10.1080/00856409608723281Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  676.  
  677. The article focuses on the ideology of Sinhalese nationalism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the Sinhalese pogrom against the Moors in 1915.
  678.  
  679. Find this resource:
  680.  
  681.  
  682. Spencer, Jonathan, Richard Handler, Bruce Kapferer, et al. “Writing Within: Anthropology, Nationalism, and Culture in Sri Lanka [and Comments and Reply].” Current Anthropology 31.3 (June 1990): 283–300.
  683.  
  684. DOI: 10.1086/203841Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  685.  
  686. The article starts with Spencer’s discussion paper on the problems social anthropologists encounter in their study of (ethno-religious) nationalism, using his own fieldwork with Sinhalese Buddhist communities as a point of departure. It is followed by critical responses of seven other specialists and Spencer’s final reply.
  687.  
  688. Find this resource:
  689.  
  690.  
  691. Weiberg-Salzmann, Mirjam. “The Radicalisation of Buddhism in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries: The Buddhist Sangha in Sri Lanka.” Politics, Religion & Ideology 15.2 (2014): 283–307.
  692.  
  693. DOI: 10.1080/21567689.2014.899066Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  694.  
  695. Sri Lanka is presented here as an example of the radicalization and politicization of Buddhism. This case study deals with the role of religious actors in promoting ethno-religious nationalism, the exclusion of the minority population, and the justification of violence.
  696.  
  697. Find this resource:
  698.  
  699.  
  700. Buddhist Nationalism in Sri Lanka
  701. Dharmadāsa 1992 is the first comprehensive study on the rise of Sinhalese language nationalism. It explores the origins of Sinhala language loyalty during the mid-19th century and records its growth and development. It is an in-depth case study of the central role that language can play in the formation of cultural and national identity. De Silva Wijeyeratne 2014 widely follows Dharmadāsa’s arguments, while Tambiah 1992 traces the Sinhalese Buddhists’ anti-Tamil sentiments, which form a core element of Sinhalese national identity back to the colonial period, but questions the Sinhalese belief in an ancient historical consciousness. Fernando 1973 emphasizes the metamorphosis of the Western-educated secular (or even Christian) Sinhalese elite into ardent proponents of a Buddhist nationalism that took organizational forms only in the 1930s and 1940s. The nationalist turn of Sinhalese Buddhism since the 1920s away from its former global orientation and toward a wider Theravada world is attested by Frost 2002. Liston 1999 traces the emergence of a modern Sinhalese nationalism back to the reinterpretation of Sinhalese Buddhism toward a modern, “Protestant-like” form during British colonial rule by examining the role of Western orientalists such as T. W. Rhys Davids and Henry Olcott in this process. Grant 2009 introduces the system of ideas of Anagārika Dharmapāla (b. 1864–d. 1933), known as one of the initial advocates of a nonviolent Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism. Dewasiri 2016 is the most recent attempt to understand the emergence of radical Buddhist nationalist organizations in the first decade of the new millennium, the way in which their role is being perceived by the other forces of Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism, and how the activities of these organizations affect the precarious political equilibrium in a country dominated by antagonistic relationships among contending ethno-religious nationalisms. Durham 2015 endorses the building of a nonexclusionary relationship between the Sinhalese-dominated state and Buddhist institutions, and for the recognition of Sinhalese anxieties of being overruled by minority groups in the long run.
  702.  
  703. De Silva Wijeyeratne, Roshan. Nation, Constitutionalism and Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Routledge Contemporary South Asia Series 72. Abington, UK, and New York: Routledge, 2014.
  704.  
  705. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  706.  
  707. So far the most comprehensive monographic study of the historical development of Sinhalese nationalism and its ideological background rooted in Buddhist historiography and cosmology. Chapter 7 (pp. 117–134) examines the parallel evolution of Sinhalese and Tamil politics toward an ethno-religious nationalism.
  708.  
  709. Find this resource:
  710.  
  711.  
  712. Dewasiri, Nirmal Ranjith. New Buddhist Extremism and the Challenges to Ethno-Religious Coexistence in Sri Lanka. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Centre for Ethnic Studies, 2016.
  713.  
  714. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  715.  
  716. This working paper explores Sinhalese ethno-nationalist policies after the start of Sri Lankan civil war in July 1983. Its main focus is on the policies of the radical-nationalist Buddhist movement that emerged after the military defeat of the Tamil insurgents in 2009. Extensive use of Sinhalese primary sources; one illustrations, no map.
  717.  
  718. Find this resource:
  719.  
  720.  
  721. Dharmadāsa, Karuṇa N. Ō. Language, Religion, and Ethnic Assertiveness: The Growth of Sinhalese Nationalism in Sri Lanka. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1992.
  722.  
  723. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  724.  
  725. This monograph is the first comprehensive examination of the rise of Sinhalese language nationalism. It recovers the origins of Sinhala language loyalty during the mid-19th century and records its growth and development. It is an impressive case study of the central role that language can play in the formation of cultural and national identity.
  726.  
  727. Find this resource:
  728.  
  729.  
  730. Durham, Hannah Clare. Sangha and State: An Examination of Sinhalese-Buddhist Nationalism in Post-Colonial Sri Lanka. Senior Projects Paper 137. Annandale-on-Hudson, NY: Bard Digital Commons, 2015.
  731.  
  732. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  733.  
  734. In her research paper the author argues for building a nonexclusionary relationship between the Sinhalese-dominated state and Buddhist institutions, and for the recognition of Sinhalese anxieties of being overruled by minority groups in the long run.
  735.  
  736. Find this resource:
  737.  
  738.  
  739. Fernando, Tissa. “The Western-Educated Elite and Buddhism in British Ceylon: A Neglected Aspect of the Nationalist Movement.” In Tradition and Change in Theravada Buddhism. Edited by Bardwell L. Smith, 18–29. Leiden, The Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1973.
  740.  
  741. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  742.  
  743. The article deals with the metamorphosis of the Western-educated secular (or even Christian) Sinhalese elite into ardent proponents of a Buddhist nationalism that took organizational forms only in the 1930s and 1940s.
  744.  
  745. Find this resource:
  746.  
  747.  
  748. Frost, Mark. “Wider Opportunities: Religious Revival, Nationalist Awakening and the Global Dimension in Colombo 1870–1920.” Modern Asian Studies 36.4 (2002): 937–967.
  749.  
  750. DOI: 10.1017/S0026749X02004067Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  751.  
  752. The article discusses the global orientation of the Sinhalese Buddhist elite toward a wider Theravada world prior to a nationalist turn since the 1920s.
  753.  
  754. Find this resource:
  755.  
  756.  
  757. Grant, Patrick. Buddhism and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2009.
  758.  
  759. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  760.  
  761. Chapter 4 (pp. 67–79) of this slim volume gives an introduction into the writings of Anagārika Dharmapāla (b. 1864–d. 1933), known as one of the initial advocates of a nonviolent Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism.
  762.  
  763. Find this resource:
  764.  
  765.  
  766. Jayewardene, Kumari. Ethnic and Class Conflicts in Sri Lanka: Some Aspects of Sinhala Buddhist Consciousness over the Past 100 Years. Colombo, Sri Lanka: Centre for Social Analysis, 1985.
  767.  
  768. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  769.  
  770. A slightly revised edition of fifteen articles published between March 1984 and February 1985 in the Lanka Guardian. The overall aim of these articles is to understand the nature of the conflicts between the country’s ethno-religious groups and to explain the evolution of a Sinhala national consciousness grounded in Theravada Buddhism since the late 19th century.
  771.  
  772. Find this resource:
  773.  
  774.  
  775. Liston, Yarina. “The Transformation of Buddhism during British Colonialism.” Journal of Law and Religion 14.1 (January 1999): 189–210.
  776.  
  777. DOI: 10.2307/1051784Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  778.  
  779. The article deals extensively with the reinterpretation of Sinhalese Buddhism toward a modern, “Protestant-like” form during British colonial rule by examining the role of Western orientalists such as T. W. Rhys Davids and Henry Olcott in this process.
  780.  
  781. Find this resource:
  782.  
  783.  
  784. Tambiah, Stanley Jeyraja. Buddhism Betrayed: Religion, Politics, and Violence in Sri Lanka. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992.
  785.  
  786. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  787.  
  788. In his controversial book the author traces the Sinhalese Buddhists’ anti-Tamil sentiments back to the colonial period, but questions the notion of a Sinhalese belief in an ancient historical consciousness. He advances evidence of inter-ethnic tolerance and the incorporation of peoples and cultures from South India. Several black-and-white photos showing Buddhist monk in political activities.
  789.  
  790. Find this resource:
  791.  
  792.  
  793. Buddhist Nationalism in Sri Lankan Politics
  794. Though the engagement of Buddhist monks in political affairs of their respective nation-states is not a phenomenon restricted to Sri Lanka, the founding of political parties on this island whose leaders and rank and file are monks is quite unique in the Theravada world. Deegalle 2004 examines the political and religious events that led to the involvement of parts of the Buddhist Sangha in Sri Lanka to actively become involved in national politics. Himself a monk, Deegalle provides a rather sympathetic in-depth analysis of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (National Sinhala Heritage Party), the first party dominated by Buddhist monks and defending the perceived interests of the Sinhala nation. The same author, in Deegalle 2013, argues that the direct involvement of monks in party politics is facilitated by the circumstance that Sinhalese Buddhism never clearly distinguished between “religious” and “secular” spheres. Buddhist millenarian responses to Pentecostal missionary efforts highlight concerns of Buddhist nationalists about lay Buddhist conversions to Christianity, as explored in Mahadev 2016. Buddhist nationalism in Sri Lanka is by no means an exclusively male domain, as demonstrated by Liyanage 2010, which scrutinizes the social and political roles of Sinhalese women and the construction of Buddhist womanhood in Sri Lanka, as well as female participation in and support for nationalist movements and parties.
  795.  
  796. Deegalle, Mahinda. “Politics of the Jathika Hela Urumaya Monks: Buddhism and Ethnicity in Contemporary Sri Lanka.” Contemporary Buddhism 5.2 (2004): 83–103.
  797.  
  798. DOI: 10.1080/1463994042000319816Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  799.  
  800. The author, himself a monk, provides the most detailed analysis of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (National Sinhala Heritage Party). Extensive use of Sinhalese primary sources.
  801.  
  802. Find this resource:
  803.  
  804.  
  805. Deegalle, Mahinda. “‘Foremost among Religions’: Theravada Buddhism’s Affairs with the Modern Sri Lankan State.” In Buddhism, Modernity, and the State in Asia: Forms of Engagement. Edited by John Whalen-Bridge and Pattana Kitiarsa, 41–61. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
  806.  
  807. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  808.  
  809. Well-informed overview article on the engagement of Buddhist monks in national politics in Sri Lanka.
  810.  
  811. Find this resource:
  812.  
  813.  
  814. Liyanage, Kamala. “Sinhala Buddhist Nationalism/‘Fundamentalism’ and Its Impact on Gendered Political Participation in Sri Lanka.” In Religious Fundamentalisms and Their Gendered Impacts in Asia. Edited by Claudia Derichs and Andrea Fleschenberg, 27–41. Berlin: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2010.
  815.  
  816. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  817.  
  818. Discussion of the social and political roles of Sinhalese women and the construction of Buddhist womanhood in Sri Lanka, as well as their participation in and support for nationalist movements.
  819.  
  820. Find this resource:
  821.  
  822.  
  823. Mahadev, Neena. “The Maverick Dialogics of Religious Rivalry in Sri Lanka: Inspiration and Contestation in a New Messianic Buddhist Movement.” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 22 (2016): 127–147.
  824.  
  825. DOI: 10.1111/1467-9655.12337Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  826.  
  827. The article is about a strand of Sri Lankan Buddhist revivalism that emerged in 2008, offering an unconventional rejoinder to evangelical efforts to intensify conversions.
  828.  
  829. Find this resource:
  830.  
  831.  
  832. Buddhist Nationalism and the Tamil Question
  833. The civil war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, advocating an independent Tamil state in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka, and the central government from 1983 until 2009 highlighted the violent potentials of Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism and its Tamil nemesis. Fernando 2013b gives insights into the process of Sinhala Buddhist expansion into areas formerly controlled by the Tamil Tigers. Fernando also investigates the close relationship between the state, the military, the business community, and the Buddhist monks in the forging of Sinhalese nationalism. Wilson 1988 is still one of the most comprehensive accounts of the Sinhalese-Tamil conflict, though it does not include the developments from the late 1980s until the termination of the conflict in 2009. The gap is filled by Fernando 2013a and Harris 2001, which analyze the conflict within a geopolitical setting.
  834.  
  835. Fernando, Jude Lal. Religion, Conflict and Peace in Sri Lanka: The Politics of Interpretation of Nationhoods. Theology, Ethics and Interreligious Relations: Studies in Ecumenics 2. Münster, Germany: LIT Verlag, 2013a.
  836.  
  837. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  838.  
  839. Mastering the Sinhala and Tamil primary sources, the author makes a challenging contribution to the relationship between state and religion on the island.
  840.  
  841. Find this resource:
  842.  
  843.  
  844. Fernando, Jude Lal. “War by Other Means: Expansion of Sinhala Buddhism into the Tamil Region in ‘Post-War’ Īlam.” In Buddhism among Tamils in Tamilakam and Īlam. Vol. 3, Extension and Conclusions. Edited by Peter Schalk, 175–238. Uppsala, Sweden: Uppsala University, 2013b.
  845.  
  846. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  847.  
  848. The author questions the prospects of a civic Sri Lankan nationalism encompassing both Sinhala and Tamil, Buddhist and Hindu communities, with the Sinhalese Buddhists settling in the Tamil heartland only aggravating ethno-religious tensions.
  849.  
  850. Find this resource:
  851.  
  852.  
  853. Harris, Elizabeth J. “Buddhism in War: A Study of Cause and Effect from Sri Lanka.” Culture and Religion: An Interdisciplinary Journal 2.2 (2001): 197–222.
  854.  
  855. DOI: 10.1080/01438300108567175Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  856.  
  857. The author explores two attitudes toward war present among Buddhists in Sri Lanka during the 1990s: support for an all-out military victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and support for a ceasefire followed by a negotiated settlement.
  858.  
  859. Find this resource:
  860.  
  861.  
  862. Wilson, A. Jeyaratnam. The Breakup of Sri Lanka: the Sinhalese-Tamil Conflict. London: Hurst, 1988.
  863.  
  864. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  865.  
  866. This account of the Sinhalese-Tamil conflict does not include the developments from the late 1980s until 2009. Two maps, including one indicating the distribution of the major ethnic and religious groups.
  867.  
  868. Find this resource:
  869.  
  870.  
  871. Buddhist Nationalism versus Islam
  872. In 2014, southwestern Sri Lanka was shaken by violent riots, with Sinhalese Buddhists attacking Muslims and their properties in several towns. In Ali 2013 it is argued that while a new wave of political Buddhism, with its militant offshoot among the Sinhalese, and the growth of a rigid Islamic orthodoxy among the Muslims have provided the ethno-religious dimension to this tension, the post-1977 open economy has added an economic dimension to it. This is a reminder of a similar scenario that produced the first Sinhalese-Muslim racial riots in 1915. Ali states that the current clashes might not only jeopardize Sinhalese-Muslim harmony, but also resulted in adverse consequences in Sri Lanka’s relations with Muslim countries. Schonthal 2016 uses an important Sri Lankan Supreme Court case concerning religious sound as a starting point for thinking about the intersections of Islam, law, politics, and Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Through a consideration of three interlacing legal environments and the way they affected the case, this article illuminates ongoing questions about the legal and political status of Muslims on the island and provides a snapshot of the legal debates and discourses that have flowed into and fortified recent anti-Muslim sentiments. Based on a detailed analysis of online social data, including Facebook Groups, Stewart 2014 argues that Sinhala nationalist organizations have adopted new Internet technologies in their recent campaign against Sri Lanka’s Muslim minority. Jones 2015, whose author frankly admits his pro-Muslim bias, discusses the importance of spatial politics and the notions of alleged violence against Sinhala women as recurring themes of Sinhala Buddhist nationalism.
  873.  
  874. Ali, Ameer. “Political Buddhism, Islamic Orthodoxy and Open Economy: The Toxic Triad in Sinhalese-Muslim Relations in Sri Lanka.” Journal of Asian and African Studies 49.3 (24 June 2013): 298–314.
  875.  
  876. DOI: 10.1177/0021909613485708Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  877.  
  878. This article stresses the relevance of the economic factors, besides a resurgence of Buddhist nationalism and Islamic extremism, for the growth of anti-Muslim sentiments in recent years. This contrasts, according to the author, with a “millennium of Buddhist-Muslim harmony.”
  879.  
  880. Find this resource:
  881.  
  882.  
  883. Jones, Robin Noel Badone. “Sinhala Buddhist Nationalism and Islamophobia in Contemporary Sri Lanka.” Honors Theses, Paper 126. Lewiston, ME: Bates College SCARAB, 2015.
  884.  
  885. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  886.  
  887. The author of this bachelor’s honors thesis (in anthropology) confesses that he writes “with an unapologetic bias in favor of the rights of Sri Lankan Muslims and against Islamophobia.” He discusses in particular the importance of spatial politics and the notions of alleged violence against Sinhala women as recurring themes of Sinhala Buddhist nationalism.
  888.  
  889. Find this resource:
  890.  
  891.  
  892. Schonthal, Benjamin. “Environments of Law: Islam, Buddhism, and the State in Contemporary Sri Lanka.” Journal of Asian Studies 75.1 (2016): 137–156.
  893.  
  894. DOI: 10.1017/S0021911815002053Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  895.  
  896. Legal case study of the Buddhist-Muslim relationship in Sri Lanka, based on the paradigmatic analysis of a controversial Sri Lankan Supreme Court case.
  897.  
  898. Find this resource:
  899.  
  900.  
  901. Stewart, James John. “Muslim-Buddhist Conflict in Contemporary Sri Lanka.” South Asia Research 34.3 (November 2014): 241–260.
  902.  
  903. DOI: 10.1177/0262728014549134Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  904.  
  905. A detailed analysis of online social data, including Facebook Groups (from 2013), arguing that Sinhala nationalist organizations have adopted new Internet technologies in their recent campaign against Sri Lanka’s Muslim minority.
  906.  
  907. Find this resource:
  908.  
  909.  
  910. Burma/Myanmar
  911. The Burmese sense of national identity and culture is intrinsically tied to Buddhism. These ties proved crucial for the emergence of Burmese nationalism and can be traced back almost one millennium. At a time when Buddhism disappeared from the Indian subcontinent, the main center of Theravada Buddhism shifted to Burma and ethnic Burmans became convinced that they had the destiny to preserve the original teachings of the Buddha. Although the Mon and the Shan, as well as parts of other ethnic minorities, are also adherents of Theravada Buddhism, it is the ethnic Burmans who developed a nationalist agenda imbedded in their Buddhist culture. When U Nu became the first prime minister of the newly independent Union of Burma, he promoted a political ideology that blended Buddhism, socialism, and nationalism. An early and most stimulating study of U Nu’s “Buddhist socialism” is Sarkisyanz 1965, which also provides a useful overview of Burmese Buddhism in precolonial and colonial times. Hayward 2015 is a particularly insightful analysis of how traditional notions of righteous kingship were reframed into democratic terms by U Nu and, more recently, by Aung San Suu Kyi. Gravers 1999 is a thorough study of the complex relationship between nationalism, violence, and Buddhism in 19th- and 20th-century Burma. While O’Lemmon 2011 offers a brief but concise overview of Buddhist involvements in Burmese national politics since the colonial period, with a focus on state-Sangha relations, Schober 2005 and Schober 2011 explore visions of moral authority among Buddhist communities in Burma and how they are connected to social and political agendas of the modern nation-state, such as national territory, national identity, and ethnic policies. McCarthy 2008 and McCarthy 2010 discuss the relevance of Buddhism for the legitimization of political authority in Burma and examine the changes in the relationship between state and Sangha under military rule. The motivations of monks and novices for joining contemporary Buddhist nationalist movements are analyzed by Walton 2015. The role of “esoteric” forms of Buddhism offering paths to Burmese nationalism different from the projects of the nation-state is studied in Foxeus 2016 and also referred to by Brac de la Perrière 1989, which shows the link between Buddhism, nationalism, and local spirit cults.
  912.  
  913. Brac de la Perrière, Bénédicte. Les rituels de possession en Birmanie: Du culte d’État aux ceremonies privées. Paris: Éditions Recherches sur les civilisations, 1989.
  914.  
  915. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  916.  
  917. This work sheds new light on the dynamics of the institutionalization of the Cult of the 37 Nats as a means to implement policies of nation-building and national integration at the level of local communities. Thirty-two color photos at the end of the volume.
  918.  
  919. Find this resource:
  920.  
  921.  
  922. Foxeus, Niklas. “Mimicking the State in Burma/Myanmar: Royal, Nationalist, and Militant Ideology in a New Buddhist Movement.” Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- and volkenkunde 172 (2016): 197–224.
  923.  
  924. DOI: 10.1163/22134379-17202002Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  925.  
  926. The relationship between the state and esoteric congregations founded by charismatic laymen in urban areas during successive military governments (1962–2011) is explored by discussing the ariyā-weizzā organization as a case in point.
  927.  
  928. Find this resource:
  929.  
  930.  
  931. Gravers, Mikael. Nationalism as Political Paranoia in Burma: An Essay on the Historical Practice of Power. 2d ed. Richmond, UK: Curzon, 1999.
  932.  
  933. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  934.  
  935. This study investigates the complex relationship between nationalism, violence, and Buddhism in 19th- and 20th-century Burma. Gravers’s study brings us to present-day Burma and the struggle by Nobel Prize–winner Aung San Suu Kyi for a new Burmese identity.
  936.  
  937. Find this resource:
  938.  
  939.  
  940. Hayward, Susan. “The Double-Edged Sword of ‘Buddhist Democracy’ in Myanmar.” In Special Issue: Religion, Law, and Society in Myanmar. Review of Faith & International Affairs 13.4 (2015): 25–35.
  941.  
  942. DOI: 10.1080/15570274.2015.1104967Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  943.  
  944. The author investigates how reframed traditional notions of righteous kingship figure prominently in debates over the Buddhist character of the modern nation-state in Myanmar. Special emphasis is given to the Mahāsamattha legends providing support for a rule based on mutual consent between rulers and ruled.
  945.  
  946. Find this resource:
  947.  
  948.  
  949. McCarthy, Stephen. “Overturning the Alms Bowl: The Price of Survival and the Consequences for Political Legitimacy in Burma.” Australian Journal of International Affairs 62.3 (2008): 298–314.
  950.  
  951. DOI: 10.1080/10357710802286767Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  952.  
  953. The author explores the relevance of Buddhism for the legitimization of political authority in Burma, including the changes of Sangha-state relations under military rule. Point of departure and focus of discussion are the demonstrations of monks in 2007.
  954.  
  955. Find this resource:
  956.  
  957.  
  958. McCarthy, Stephen. “Legitimacy under Military Rule: Burma.” Politics & Policy 38.3 (June 2010): 545–569.
  959.  
  960. DOI: 10.1111/j.1747-1346.2010.00248.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  961.  
  962. This article blends historical and thematic examinations of the sources of legitimacy relied upon by the Burmese armed forces during this time. These include their role in the battle against ethnic separatist and communist insurgencies, the promotion and defense of Buddhism, the reinvigoration of monarchical traditions, and their claims to economic stewardship and regional integration.
  963.  
  964. Find this resource:
  965.  
  966.  
  967. Sarkisyanz, Manuel. Buddhist Backgrounds of the Burmese Revolution. The Hague: M. Nijhoff, 1965.
  968.  
  969. DOI: 10.1007/978-94-017-6283-0Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  970.  
  971. This volume is mainly based on Burmese primary source material. The author discusses Buddhist concepts that gave birth to a national Burmese form of socialism and Marxism.
  972.  
  973. Find this resource:
  974.  
  975.  
  976. Schober, Juliane. “Buddhist Visions of Moral Authority and Modernity in Burma.” In Burma at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century. Edited by Monique Skidmore, 113–132. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2005.
  977.  
  978. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  979.  
  980. This book chapter is the only one to explore how visions of moral authority among Buddhist communities in Burma are tied to the agendas of the modern nation-state.
  981.  
  982. Find this resource:
  983.  
  984.  
  985. Schober, Juliane. Modern Buddhist Conjunctures in Myanmar: Cultural Narratives, Colonial Legacies, and Civil Society. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2011.
  986.  
  987. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  988.  
  989. In this engagingly written book, the author argues that Buddhist conceptions and practices are inevitably tied to conceptions of political power in social, economic, and political realms. The book concludes with an examination of the Saffron Revolution of 2007. Fifteen illustrations.
  990.  
  991. Find this resource:
  992.  
  993.  
  994. Walton, Matthew J. “Monks in Politics, Monks in the World: Buddhist Activism in Contemporary Myanmar.” Social Research: An International Quarterly 82.2 (Summer 2015): 507–530.
  995.  
  996. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  997.  
  998. In-depth analysis of the motivations of monks and novices for joining contemporary Buddhist nationalist movements based on personal interviews.
  999.  
  1000. Find this resource:
  1001.  
  1002.  
  1003. Buddhism and Anticolonial Resistance
  1004. Mendelson 1975 examines the historical development and internal structure of the Burmese Buddhist Sangha, with a special focus on the colonial and postcolonial periods, while Lewy 1972 investigates the political role of Burmese monks (pongyi) in various anticolonial rebellions since the early 20th century. Lewy explores the temporary alliance between the political monks and the secular nationalist movement in the late 1930s and early 1940s, but he leaves the role of Buddhism as an integrative force in post-independence Burma unstudied. The most recent study of the relationship between the colonial state and the Sangha is Turner 2014, which explores the contradictions and overlappings between the discourses on the “nation” and the “sāsana” and challenges the standard interpretation of Burmese nationalism. The characteristic features of Burmese Buddhist nationalism during British colonial rule are analyzed in Jang 2010, which highlights three cases of anticolonial revolt in which members of the Buddhist Sangha were directly involved: the activities of the Young Men’s Buddhist Association, the Saya San rebellion, and the Oil Strike of 1938. Maung Maung 1980 concludes that the Burmese Sangha and Buddhist nationalist organizations lost their popular support in favor of secular nationalist groups in the 1930s. This argument is questioned in Ferguson 1982. Ware 2015 reflects on colonial narratives about identity and power that have fueled Burmese-Buddhist nationalism and ethno-religious conflict since independence, including the recent reemergence of anti-Muslim nationalism.
  1005.  
  1006. Ferguson, John P. Review of From Sangha to Laity: Nationalist Movements of Burma, 1920–1940, by U Maung Maung. Journal of Asian Studies 42.1 (1982): 226–227.
  1007.  
  1008. DOI: 10.2307/2055431Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1009.  
  1010. Appreciates U Maung Maung’s extensive use of Burmese sources but criticizes his main thesis that the Burmese Sangha and Buddhist nationalist organizations lost their popular support in favor of secular nationalist groups in the 1930s.
  1011.  
  1012. Find this resource:
  1013.  
  1014.  
  1015. Jang, Jun Young. “Buddhist Nationalism and its Limitations in Colonial Myanmar: The Crossing of Tradition and Modernity.” International Area Studies Review 13.2 (June 2010): 167–186.
  1016.  
  1017. DOI: 10.1177/223386591001300209Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1018.  
  1019. The article explores the characteristic features of Burmese Buddhist nationalism during British colonialism.
  1020.  
  1021. Find this resource:
  1022.  
  1023.  
  1024. Lewy, Guenter. “Militant Buddhist Nationalism: The Case of Burma.” Journal of Church and State 14.1 (Winter 1972): 19–41.
  1025.  
  1026. DOI: 10.1093/jcs/14.1.19Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1027.  
  1028. This is one of the early overview articles discussing the political role of Burmese monks (pongyi) in colonial Burma. Even though it does not consider developments in post-independence Burma, it is still worth reading.
  1029.  
  1030. Find this resource:
  1031.  
  1032.  
  1033. Maung Maung, U. From Sangha to Laity: Nationalist Movements of Burma, 1920–1940. New Delhi: Manohar, 1980.
  1034.  
  1035. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1036.  
  1037. The author, a retired diplomat and former officer in the Burmese army, revised his master’s thesis for the Australian National University to create this monograph. Several useful maps.
  1038.  
  1039. Find this resource:
  1040.  
  1041.  
  1042. Mendelson, E. Michael. Sangha and State in Burma: A Study of Monastic Sectarianism and Leadership. Edited by John P. Ferguson. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1975.
  1043.  
  1044. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1045.  
  1046. This volume was edited eight years after the author withdrew from the anthropological scene and moved to a different discipline. Thus it appears somehow incomplete. The focus is on the historical development and internal structure of the Buddhist Sangha of Burma, with a special focus on the colonial and postcolonial periods.
  1047.  
  1048. Find this resource:
  1049.  
  1050.  
  1051. Turner, Alica. Saving Buddhism: The Impermanence of Religion in Colonial Burma. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2014.
  1052.  
  1053. DOI: 10.21313/hawaii/9780824839376.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1054.  
  1055. The author examines numerous rarely used sources, including Buddhist journals, newspapers, donation lists, and colonial reports, to trace various discourses set in motion by the encounter of Burmese Buddhism with British colonialism. It provides new insights on the terms “religion” and “nation” with the context of Myanmar.
  1056.  
  1057. Find this resource:
  1058.  
  1059.  
  1060. Ware, Anthony. “Origins of Buddhist Nationalism in Burma/Myanmar: An Urban History of Religious Space, Integration and Marginalisation in Colonial Rangoon after 1852.” In Religion and Urbanism: Reconceptualising Sustainable Cities for South Asia. Edited by Yamini Narayanan, 27–45. London: Routledge, 2015.
  1061.  
  1062. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1063.  
  1064. This book chapter studies the impact of religion on urban planning in colonial Rangoon after the 1852 war, and the resultant spatial layout. The author also reflects about colonial narratives about identity and power that have fueled Burmese-Buddhist nationalism.
  1065.  
  1066. Find this resource:
  1067.  
  1068.  
  1069. Anti-Muslim Buddhist Nationalism
  1070. The conflict between the Muslim population in northern Rakhine and the Buddhist majority of that state bordering Bangladesh has given rise to numerous monographs and articles dealing with a perceived anti-Muslim bias of Burmese Buddhist nationalism. Rueangrattanakorn 2015 and Walton and Hayward 2014 are recent studies of notions of Buddhist national identity in Burma as expressed through the dominant narratives of Buddhist nationalist organizations; both studies have a focus on the ongoing communal violence in Rakhine. Analyzing the origins and conditions of inter-communal violence between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, Long 2013 and Yhome 2014 explore the interactions and dependencies between the state, the Buddhist monastic community, and Burmese lay society to understand the complex dynamics that have emerged from a traditional Burmese Buddhist cosmology to condition Myanmar’s current cultural, religious, and political institutions. Horsey 2015 examines the legal aspects of several bills submitted to the democratically elected Burmese parliament aimed at curbing in particular Muslim influence at a national level. Gravers 2013 provides a concise overview of Buddhist-Muslim and Buddhist-Christian relationship in Burma in historical perspective, and of recent ethno-nationalist outbursts of violence. Some of the recent Burmese nationalist movements with a clearly anti-Muslim orientation have also been joined and supported by nuns and laywomen whose often overlooked role in the formation of a religious nationalism is studied in Thanh 2015 and D’Elena 2016.
  1071.  
  1072. D’Elena, Grisel. “The Gender Problem of Buddhist Nationalism in Myanmar: The 969 Movement and Theravada Nuns.” MA diss., Florida International University, 2016.
  1073.  
  1074. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1075.  
  1076. This master’s thesis in the field of religious studies explores the instrumentalization of women’s rights by Buddhist nationalist movements in contemporary Myanmar. Though mainly based on English-language material, the author’s research also includes interviews with leaders of these movements, as well as non-nationalistic monks, nuns, and laywomen.
  1077.  
  1078. Find this resource:
  1079.  
  1080.  
  1081. Drollinger-Smith, Nevada Skye. “Shadow Masculinities: Nationalist Burmese Monastics and the Savage Muslim Male.” MA diss., University of Colorado, 2014.
  1082.  
  1083. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1084.  
  1085. This master’s thesis in the field of religious studies—based on English-language sources—deals with the ideology and political actions of the Buddhist nationalist 969 Movement, whose rhetoric against alleged Muslim male violence is analyzed in the frame of “hegemonic masculinity.”
  1086.  
  1087. Find this resource:
  1088.  
  1089.  
  1090. Gravers, Mikael. “Spiritual Politics, Political Religion, and Religious Freedom in Burma.” Review of Faith & International Affairs 11.2 (2013): 46–54.
  1091.  
  1092. DOI: 10.1080/15570274.2013.808037Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1093.  
  1094. Concise overview of Buddhist-Muslim and Buddhist-Christian relationships in Burma in historical perspective, and of recent ethno-nationalist outbursts of violence.
  1095.  
  1096. Find this resource:
  1097.  
  1098.  
  1099. Horsey, Richard. “New Religious Legislation in Myanmar.” Paper prepared for the Conflict Prevention and Peace Forum, 13 February 2015.
  1100.  
  1101. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1102.  
  1103. Critical assessment of four “Protection of Race and Religion” bills, submitted to the parliament in November 2014, which aim at curbing notably Muslim influence in Burmese society.
  1104.  
  1105. Find this resource:
  1106.  
  1107.  
  1108. Long, Mary Kate. “Dynamics of State, Sangha and Society in Myanmar: A Closer Look at the Rohingya Issue.” Asian Journal of Public Affairs 6.1 (2013): 79–94.
  1109.  
  1110. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1111.  
  1112. This article analyzes the origins and conditions of intercommunal violence between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims. It explores the interactions and dependencies between the state, the Buddhist monastic community, and Burmese lay society.
  1113.  
  1114. Find this resource:
  1115.  
  1116.  
  1117. Rueangrattanakorn, Anekchai. “Botbat khòng udomkan “phutthasatsana-chatniyom sut tong” kap khwam khatyaeng rawang chao phut yakhai kap chao mutsalim rohingya.” Warasan Sangkhomsat 11.2 (2015): 73–98.
  1118.  
  1119. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1120.  
  1121. The article—in Thai with an English abstract (translated as “The role of ultra-Buddhist nationalism and the conflicts between Buddhists in Rakhine State and Muslim Rohingyas)—studies the role of ultra-nationalist Buddhist monks in Myanmar toward the ethno-religious conflicts in Rakhine Sates (Arakan). It analyzes both the ideology and activities of the group of nationalist monks led by U Wirathu and those of the so-called 969 Movement.
  1122.  
  1123. Find this resource:
  1124.  
  1125.  
  1126. Thanh, Tharapi. “Nationalism, Religion, and Violence: Old and New Wunthanu Movements in Myanmar.” The Review of Faith & International Affairs 13.4 (2015): 12–24.
  1127.  
  1128. DOI: 10.1080/15570274.2015.1104974Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1129.  
  1130. Based on sources from Burmese mass media and interviews with women followers of nationalistic Buddhist monks, the author, a professor of Burmese at Northern Illinois University, provides new insights into the role of women in the formation of “religious and racial nationalism.”
  1131.  
  1132. Find this resource:
  1133.  
  1134.  
  1135. Walton, Matthew J., and Susan Hayward. Contesting Buddhist Narratives: Democratization, Nationalism, and Communal Violence in Myanmar. Policy Studies 71. Honolulu: East-West Center, 2014.
  1136.  
  1137. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1138.  
  1139. This research paper examines various dimensions of Buddhist national identity in Myanmar expressed through the dominant narratives of the 969 movement and the Ma Ba Tha (Organization for the Protection of Race and Religion). It also discusses Theravada Buddhist counterarguments for religious pluralism in contemporary Myanmar.
  1140.  
  1141. Find this resource:
  1142.  
  1143.  
  1144. Yhome, Khriezo. “Mapping the Meaning of Burman Nationalism.” Himalayan and Central Asian Studies 18.1–2 (January–June 2014): 52–63.
  1145.  
  1146. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1147.  
  1148. Within the context of the anti-Muslim sectarian violence in Rakhine State, the author poses the question of what markers define Burman ethnic identity and what factors constitute nationalism in modern Myanmar. Particular attention is given to the relationship between Buddhism and Burman/Burmese nationalism.
  1149.  
  1150. Find this resource:
  1151.  
  1152.  
  1153. Thailand
  1154. Unlike Sri Lanka and Burma, Thailand never came directly under the rule of Western colonial powers. Therefore, the close ties between the indigenous ruling royal elite and the Buddhist Sangha remained intact in Thailand. Under King Chulalongkorn’s policies of national integration, the Sangha was organized along national lines. Suksamran 1982 gives a well-informed overview of the interaction of the Sangha with politics and sociopolitical change in Thailand. It raises our awareness about the role of political monks like Kittivudho Bhikkhu in the Thai society of the 1970s, who justified even the killing of Communist insurgents for the sake of the Thai nation’s survival. The political functions of institutional Buddhism in 20th-century Thailand are further discussed in Jackson 1989, the first comprehensive study dealing with contemporary Buddhist movements in an urban milieu. More recently, Rackett 2014 looks at the use of Buddhism as a source of legitimization by the Thai state and politics. It is argued that as a hostage of nationalist ideology in times of crisis and insecurity, Buddhist teachings were used by political actors in Thailand to legitimate states of emergency, suspending moral constraints and making it permissible to kill enemies with the good intention to defend Buddhism. How rationalist and supernatural formulations of Buddhism served the state-sponsored discourse of Thai national identity is explored by Jackson 1997 and, with regard to the instrumentalization of a fertility cult by the political right, by Guthrie 2007. Ambuel 2006 gives a concise overview of flourishing new Buddhist movements and their relationship to the Thai nation-state. These movements challenge the authority of the official Thai Sangha, which is seen in a threefold (numerical, moral, and authority) crisis by Gabaude 1996. McCargo 2004 criticizes the monastic order of allegedly subordinating the universalistic teachings of the Buddha to a nationalist ideology legitimizing state power.
  1155.  
  1156. Ambuel, David. “New Karma: Buddhism and Democratization in Thailand.” In Religious Organizations and Democratization: Case Studies from Contemporary Asia. Edited by Tun-jen Cheng and Deborah A. Brown. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2006.
  1157.  
  1158. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1159.  
  1160. Concise overview of flourishing new Buddhist movements and their relationship to the Thai nation-state, inlcuding Santi Asoke, Palang Dhamma, and Wat Phra Dhammakaya.
  1161.  
  1162. Find this resource:
  1163.  
  1164.  
  1165. Gabaude, Louis. “La triple crise du bouddhisme en Thaïlande (1990–1996).” Bulletin de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient 83 (1996): 241–257.
  1166.  
  1167. DOI: 10.3406/befeo.1996.2412Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1168.  
  1169. The article provides new insights into the alarming numerical decline of the community of monks and novices in Thailand since the 1930s (numerical crisis), cases of prominent monks found guilty of sexual misconduct (crisis of morality), and an inability of the religious authorities to cope with monks who breach the Buddhist precepts (crisis of authority).
  1170.  
  1171. Find this resource:
  1172.  
  1173.  
  1174. Guthrie, Elizabeth. “In Defence of the Nation: the Cult of Nang Thoranee in Northeast Thailand.” In Buddhism, Power and Political Order. Edited by Ian Harris, 168–181. London and New York: Routledge, 2007.
  1175.  
  1176. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1177.  
  1178. Focusing on the northeastern city of Khon Kaen, the author traces the relationship between Nang Thoranee (Earth Goddess), a traditional symbol of agricultural fertility, and the Thai political right, who view her as a guardian deity of the nation-state.
  1179.  
  1180. Find this resource:
  1181.  
  1182.  
  1183. Jackson, Peter A. Buddhism, Legitimation, and Conflict: The Political Functions of Urban Thai Buddhism. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1989.
  1184.  
  1185. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1186.  
  1187. This monograph analyzes the political functions of institutional Buddhism in 20th-century Thailand. The history of the relationship between the official Sangha and the state is studied in the first part, while the second part, which could also stand independently, deals with contemporary Buddhist movements in an urban milieu. The issue of Buddhism nationalism, however, is only indirectly touched on.
  1188.  
  1189. Find this resource:
  1190.  
  1191.  
  1192. Jackson, Peter A. “Withering Centre, Flourishing Margins: Buddhism’s Changing Political Roles.” In Political Change in Thailand: Democracy and Participation. Edited by Kevin Hewison, 75–93. London and New York: Routledge, 1997.
  1193.  
  1194. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1195.  
  1196. On the rise of new religious movements in Thailand since the 1980s. Discussion about how rationalist and supernatural conceptions of Buddhism have served the state-sponsored discourse of Thai national identity.
  1197.  
  1198. Find this resource:
  1199.  
  1200.  
  1201. McCargo, Duncan. “Buddhism, Democracy and Identity in Thailand.” Democratization 11.4 (2004): 155–170.
  1202.  
  1203. DOI: 10.1080/1351034042000234576Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1204.  
  1205. Critical assessment of the Thai Sangha, which allegedly subordinated the universalistic teachings of the Buddha to a nationalist ideology legitimizing state power.
  1206.  
  1207. Find this resource:
  1208.  
  1209.  
  1210. Rackett, Tim. “States of Mind and Exception: Enactments of Buddhist Ontological Truth and Purification in Thai Religious Nationalism in the Mid 20th and Early 21st Centuries.” Journal of Religion and Violence 2.1 (2014): 135–167.
  1211.  
  1212. DOI: 10.5840/jrv20142112Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1213.  
  1214. This article suggests that Buddhism has been constantly manipulated by the Thai state and politics. As a hostage of nationalist ideology in times of crisis and insecurity, Buddhist teachings were used by political actors in Thailand even to legitimate the killing of enemies of the religion.
  1215.  
  1216. Find this resource:
  1217.  
  1218.  
  1219. Suksamran, Somboon. Buddhism and Politics in Thailand: A Study of Socio-Political Change and Political Activism of the Thai Sangha. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1982.
  1220.  
  1221. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1222.  
  1223. This book studies the interaction of the Sangha with politics and sociopolitical change in Thailand. Although the interaction of Buddhism and politics is recognized, it is seldom acknowledged and frequently denied.
  1224.  
  1225. Find this resource:
  1226.  
  1227.  
  1228. Taylor, James L. Forest Monks and the Nation-State: An Anthropological and Historical Study in Northeastern Thailand. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1993.
  1229.  
  1230. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1231.  
  1232. This edited version of a PhD dissertation is a detailed study on the ascetic forest monk tradition in the Lao-speaking provinces of northeastern Thailand in the wake of the early-20th-century politico-religious reforms. The writer uses original ethnographic materials and provides a rare insight into the formation of monastic lineages and the local histories of present-day northeastern Thailand.
  1233.  
  1234. Find this resource:
  1235.  
  1236.  
  1237. The Sangha and the Nation-State
  1238. The first comprehensive and authoritative work on the relationship between Buddhism and the political organization in Thailand is Tambiah 1976. This seminal study conveys the historical background necessary for a full comprehension of the contemporary structural relationship between Buddhism, the Sangha, and the polity, including the historic institution of kingship. It is followed by Ishii 1986, which explores in much detail the Sangha reforms of the 20th century as an instrument of national integration. These reforms are more concisely dealt with in Swearer 2010, also discussing contemporary Buddhist reform movements. Reflecting upon the role of the Buddhist Sangha as part of government policies of national integration, Keyes 1971 points at the Dhammacārika (“Wanderers of the Dhamma”) and Dhammadūta (“Envoys of the Dhamma”) programs of the 1960s, which were designed to proselytize among ethnic minorities in the highlands of northern Thailand. Heinze 1977 documents the organizational development of the Thai Sangha and its social and educational activities until the early 1970s.
  1239.  
  1240. Heinze, Ruth-Inge. The Role of the Sangha in Modern Thailand. Taipei: Chinese Association for Folklore, 1977.
  1241.  
  1242. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1243.  
  1244. Though not covering the development of Thai nationalism, this monograph, based on Thai primary sources, provides a rich documentation of the organizational development of the Thai Sangha and its social and educational activities until the early 1970s. The appendices contain the results of monastic censuses and the translation of key documents.
  1245.  
  1246. Find this resource:
  1247.  
  1248.  
  1249. Ishii, Yoneo. Sangha, State, and Society: Thai Buddhism in History. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1986.
  1250.  
  1251. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1252.  
  1253. This is a concise and reliable institutional history, translated from the Japanese original (1975). Most relevant are the chapters “National Integration and the Sangha’s Role” and “Thai Nationalism and Buddhism” in Part II of this highly authoritative work.
  1254.  
  1255. Find this resource:
  1256.  
  1257.  
  1258. Keyes, Charles F. “Buddhism and National Integration in Thailand.” Journal of Asian Studies 30.3 (1971): 551–567.
  1259.  
  1260. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1261.  
  1262. In this “classical” essay the author provides a brief overview of Sangha reforms in the 20th century as an instrument of national integration. He also evaluates the Thammathut and Thammacarik programs of the 1960s directed to send Buddhist missions to hill-tribe villages.
  1263.  
  1264. Find this resource:
  1265.  
  1266.  
  1267. Swearer, Donald K. “Centre and Periphery: Buddhism and Politics in Modern Thailand.” In Buddhism and Politics in Twentieth Century Asia. Edited by Ian Harris, 194–228. London: Bloomsbury, 2010.
  1268.  
  1269. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1270.  
  1271. Concise overview of the relationship between the political sphere and the Sangha and the latter’s involvement in the nation-building project of the Thai state. The main focus is on the Sangha reforms of the 20th century and contemporary Buddhist reform movements.
  1272.  
  1273. Find this resource:
  1274.  
  1275.  
  1276. Tambiah, Stanley J. World Conqueror and World Renouncer: A Study of Buddhism and Polity in Thailand against a Historical Background. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1976.
  1277.  
  1278. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511558184Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1279.  
  1280. This is the first comprehensive and authoritative work on the relationship between Buddhism and the political organization in Thailand. The book conveys the historical background necessary for a full comprehension of the contemporary structural relationship between the religious and the secular orders.
  1281.  
  1282. Find this resource:
  1283.  
  1284.  
  1285. Conflicts in the South
  1286. Most recent studies of the relationship between Buddhism and nationalism in Thailand deal with the conflict in the country’s deep South. This century-old conflict is between the Thai state and the Malay-Muslim majority of over 80 percent in the three border provinces of Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat. During the last two or three decades it has led to a radicalization of the Thai-Buddhist minority, increasingly fearful of being marginalized and even threatened in its very existence, as explored by McCargo’s impressive study Mapping National Anxieties (McCargo 2012). In another study (McCargo 2009) the same author challenges widespread notions of Thai Buddhism as a “civic religion” by analyzing the growing militarization of the Buddhist Sangha and laity in Thailand’s deep South. Jerryson 2011 reveals the hidden existence of armed Buddhist monks in a highly volatile and contested border region. The book seeks to debunk the widely considered view of Buddhist violence as an oxymoron.
  1287.  
  1288. Jerryson, Michael. “Militarizing Buddhism: Violence in Southern Thailand.” In Buddhist Warfare. Edited by Michael Jerryson and Mark Juergensmeyer, 179–210. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.
  1289.  
  1290. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1291.  
  1292. A concise summary of the main arguments developed in Jerryson 2011.
  1293.  
  1294. Find this resource:
  1295.  
  1296.  
  1297. Jerryson, Michael. Buddhist Fury: Religion and Violence in Southern Thailand. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
  1298.  
  1299. DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199793235.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1300.  
  1301. The author has conducted extensive fieldwork with members of the Sangha in the deep South of Thailand. He documents the hidden existence of armed Buddhist monks in a highly volatile and contested border region.
  1302.  
  1303. Find this resource:
  1304.  
  1305.  
  1306. McCargo, Duncan. “The Politics of Buddhist Identity in Thailand’s Deep South: The Demise of Civil Religion?” Journal of South Asian Studies 40.1 (2009): 11–32.
  1307.  
  1308. DOI: 10.1017/S0022463409000022Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1309.  
  1310. In this article the author challenges widespread notions of Thai Buddhism as a “civic religion” by analyzing the growing militarization of the Buddhist Sangha and laity in Thailand’s deep south.
  1311.  
  1312. Find this resource:
  1313.  
  1314.  
  1315. McCargo, Duncan. Mapping National Anxieties: Thailand’s Southern Conflict. Copenhagen: Nordic Institute of Asian Studies Press, 2012.
  1316.  
  1317. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1318.  
  1319. Chapter 2 (“Buddhist Fears”) explores the fears of the Thai-Chinese Buddhist minority in the deep South of Thailand of being marginalized by a Malay-Muslim majority population. Similar to Jerryson 2011, McCargo puts the Buddhist nationalist responses to Muslim violence into a wider regional context.
  1320.  
  1321. Find this resource:
  1322.  
  1323.  
  1324. Laos
  1325. Unlike Vietnam, but like Cambodia, the introduction of French colonial rule in Laos met with little resistance. The founding of the Institut Bouddhique (Buddhist Institute) in Vientiane in 1931 was a decisive factor for the development of a national Sangha in Laos, as the majority of Lao monks previously furthered their monastic education in northeastern Thailand, a Lao-speaking region known as Isan, or in Bangkok. Kourilsky 2006 is so far the most comprehensive study of the Institut Bouddhique, which later set up branches in Luang Prabang (founded 1933) and Pakse (founded 1943); it shows how political Buddhism was closely linked with an emerging nationalist movement in Laos. The intrinsic connection between the worldly power of kings and the Buddhist Sangha in precolonial Laos is explored in Grabowsky 2007. The entanglement of the Lao Sangha with the political sphere during the vicissitudes of the 20th century is discussed in an insightful overview article, Ladwig 2017a, which also explores the national resurgence of Lao Buddhism during the last two decades in the light of the country’s integration into a globalized capitalist economy. Stuart-Fox 1996 pays special attention to attempts of the Lao Communists to legitimize their seizure and exercise of power, and examines how the Buddhist monastic order was reduced to a pliant instrument of the regime of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, founded in December 1975. Stuart-Fox and Bucknell 1982 demonstrates how during the Lao civil war (1962–1975) both the Royal Lao government and the Pathet Lao tried to manipulate the Buddhist order for their own political needs. Deeper insights into the schism of the Lao Sangha during the crucial years between 1957 and 1960 are given in Ladwig 2017b, which provides an excellent discussion of the attitudes toward Buddhism by the Royal Lao Government and their Pathet Lao adversaries. With the founding of the Lao Buddhist Fellowship Organization in 1976, the Sangha was brought in line with the country’s new Communist leadership. Khamtan Thepbuali 1975 is a key source for understanding the dynamics of the relationship between the Lao Sangha and the revolutionary Pathet Lao forces. For those seeking a brief overview of Lao Buddhism and the Sangha’s political role during the colonial period, under the royalist government and the socialist and post-socialist regimes, Stuart-Fox 2010 is recommended. The attitudes toward political activism of Lao monks living overseas, many of whom are critical of the post-1975 regime, is explored by Baird 2012.
  1326.  
  1327. Baird, Ian G. “Lao Buddhist Monks’ Involvement in Political and Military Resistance to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic Government since 1975.” Journal of Asian Studies 71.3 (August 2012): 655–667.
  1328.  
  1329. DOI: 10.1017/S0021911812000642Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1330.  
  1331. This is a welcome contribution to the discussion about the involvement of Theravada Buddhist monks in political and military activities. Based on numerous interviews with nationalistic Lao monks in exile, the author argues that the providing of humanitarian aid and other nonmilitary support to soldiers is considered in accordance with Buddhist teachings, while the active advocacy of violence is not.
  1332.  
  1333. Find this resource:
  1334.  
  1335.  
  1336. Grabowsky, Volker. “Buddhism and Political Order in Pre-Twentieth Century Laos.” In Buddhism, Power, and Political Order in Theravada Buddhist Asia. Edited by Ian Harris, 121–142. London: Routledge, 2007.
  1337.  
  1338. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1339.  
  1340. This article reflects on the intrinsic connection between the worldly power of kings and the Buddhist Sangha in precolonial Laos.
  1341.  
  1342. Find this resource:
  1343.  
  1344.  
  1345. Khamtan Thepbuali, Maha. Phasong lao kap kan patiwat. 3d ed. Vientiane, Laos: Naeo Lao Hak Sat Press, 1975.
  1346.  
  1347. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1348.  
  1349. The author was one of the founders of the Lao Buddhist Fellowship Organization, which operated in the Pathet Lao zones during the Lao civil war, and later, in 1976, became the head of the national Sangha organization after the founding of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. The treatise (The Lao monks and the revolution) portrays the history of Buddhism in Laos as a sequence of national and class struggles supported by the rank and file of Lao monks.
  1350.  
  1351. Find this resource:
  1352.  
  1353.  
  1354. Kourilsky, Grégory. “Récherches sur l’Institut Bouddhique au Laos (1930–1949): Les circonstances de sa création, son action, son échec.” MA diss., École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris, 2006.
  1355.  
  1356. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1357.  
  1358. This master’s thesis is an excellent study of the modernization of Lao Buddhism in the wake of the founding of the Buddhist Institute in Vientiane in 1931. The author makes extensive use of Lao, Thai, and Khmer primary sources as well as French archival material. A key reference work for the development of a political Buddhism closely linked with an emerging nationalist movement in Laos.
  1359.  
  1360. Find this resource:
  1361.  
  1362.  
  1363. Ladwig, Patrice. “Contemporary Lao Buddhism: Ruptured Histories.” In The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Buddhism. Edited by Michael Jerryson, 532–545. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017a.
  1364.  
  1365. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1366.  
  1367. Excellent overview of the entanglement of the Lao Sangha with the political sphere during the vicissitudes of the 20th century.
  1368.  
  1369. Find this resource:
  1370.  
  1371.  
  1372. Ladwig, Patrice. “‘Special Operation Pagoda’: Buddhism, Covert Operations, and the Politics of Religious Subversion in Cold-War Laos (1957–60).” In Changing Lives in Laos: Society, Politics, and Culture in a Post-Socialist State. Edited by Vatthana Pholsena and Vanina Bouté, 81–108. Singapore: National University of Singapore Press, 2017b.
  1373.  
  1374. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1375.  
  1376. This is so far the best analysis of the contested role of the Lao Sangha in the late 1950s, when Laos gradually got drawn into a decade long civil war between royalist and pro-communist forces. The article gives special attention to the new Sangha laws of 1959, which eventually led to a schism within the Lao monastic order.
  1377.  
  1378. Find this resource:
  1379.  
  1380.  
  1381. Stuart-Fox, Martin, and Rod Bucknell. “Politicization of the Buddhist Sangha in Laos.” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 13.1 (1982): 60–80.
  1382.  
  1383. DOI: 10.1017/S0022463400013990Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1384.  
  1385. Based on extensive interviews with members of the Lao Sangha, the authors show how both the Royal Lao government and the Pathet Lao tried to manipulate the Buddhist order for their respective political ends.
  1386.  
  1387. Find this resource:
  1388.  
  1389.  
  1390. Stuart-Fox, Martin. Buddhist Kingdom, Marxist State: The Making of Modern Laos. Bangkok: White Lotus, 1996.
  1391.  
  1392. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1393.  
  1394. This book examines the history and politics of modern Laos from the late 19th century to the Communist state it is today. Special attention is given to the issue how the Lao Communist hierarchy has attempted to legitimize its seizure and exercise of power.
  1395.  
  1396. Find this resource:
  1397.  
  1398.  
  1399. Stuart-Fox, Martin. “Laos: From Buddhist Kingdom to Marxist State” In Buddhism and Politics in Twentieth Century Asia. Edited by Ian Harris, 153–172. London: Bloomsbury, 2010.
  1400.  
  1401. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1402.  
  1403. Brief overview of the Sangha in Laos and its political role during the colonial period, under the royalist government and the socialist and post-socialist regimes of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.
  1404.  
  1405. Find this resource:
  1406.  
  1407.  
  1408. Cambodia
  1409. In contrast to neighboring Vietnam, French rule in the protectorate of Cambodia has been characterized as “une colonisation sans heurts,” as explained in Forest 1980. Apart from a short-lived protest movement of peasants in early 1916 and the assassination of a French provincial governor in 1925 (the Bardez affair), the French presence was readily accepted by the Cambodian elite as well as by the rural masses, since France offered protection against Cambodia’s much-feared neighbors Vietnam and Thailand. On the contrary, the French actively promoted nationalist sentiments among the Cambodian secular and religious elite through the founding of Khmer-language newspapers (such as the Nagara Vatta in 1936) and the Institut Bouddhique (in 1930). Edwards 2004 and Hansen 2007 provide valuable insights into this formative period of a modern Cambodian nationalism, which relied to a large extent on the monarchy and Buddhism as its main institutional pillars. The successful popular protests against the replacement of the Khmer script by a Romanized alphabet in July 1942—half of the more than one thousand demonstrators were monks—highlight the very important role played by Buddhist monks in nationalist politics during the final years of the colonial regime. These protests, also called the “Umbrella War,” are vividly described in Bunchan Mul’s reminiscences Kuk Niyobay (Political prison, 1971); an English translation of this key source is published in Kiernan and Boua 1982. Sihanouk’s post-independence project of a Buddhist-oriented national community in the 1950s and 1960s is explored in the well-informed studies Harris 2005, Harris 2010a, and Harris 2010b. Harris 2010a also highlights the Buddhist cultural roots of the Khmer Rouge movement, which violently suppressed religious practice during its agrarian-communist reign of terror (1975–1978). Whereas Keyes 1994 gives a useful general overview of a Buddhist-based nationalism in Cambodia throughout the 20th century, O’Lemmon 2011 discusses the little-known religious dimension of the Cambodian civil war between Marshal Lon Nol’s Khmer Republic and the Cambodian Communists of the early 1970s. O’Lemmon analyzes Lon Nol’s ultra-nationalist rhetoric, which, mated with elements of Buddhist millenarianism, was used to justify his anti-Communist and anti-Vietnamese policies.
  1410.  
  1411. Edwards, Penny. “Making a Religion of the Nation and Its Language: The French Protectorate (1863–1954) and the Dhammakāy.” In Buddhism, Power and Political Order. Edited by John A. Marston and Elizabeth Guthrie, 63–89. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2004.
  1412.  
  1413. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1414.  
  1415. The article examines the role of the Buddhist Institute founded in May 1930 as a catalyst for the emergence of a national Cambodian Sangha as the Buddhist order’s long-standing orientation toward Siam was terminated. In some ways complementary to Hansen 2004.
  1416.  
  1417. Find this resource:
  1418.  
  1419.  
  1420. Forest, Alain. Le Cambodge et la colonisation française: Histoire d’une colonisation sans heurts (1897–1920). Paris: L’Harmattan, 1980.
  1421.  
  1422. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1423.  
  1424. The ultimate study of the establishment of the French protectorate over the Buddhist kingdom of Cambodia. It includes shorter sections on traditional Khmer Buddhism and its reaction to colonial intrusions. Four maps.
  1425.  
  1426. Find this resource:
  1427.  
  1428.  
  1429. Hansen, Anne. “Khmer Identity and Theravāda Buddhism.” In History, Buddhism, and New Religious Movements in Cambodia. Edited by John A. Marston and Elizabeth Guthrie, 40–62. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2004.
  1430.  
  1431. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1432.  
  1433. Summary of the author’s monograph, Hansen 2007.
  1434.  
  1435. Find this resource:
  1436.  
  1437.  
  1438. Hansen, Anne. How to Behave: Buddhism and Modernity in Colonial Cambodia, 1860–1930. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Silkworm Books, 2007.
  1439.  
  1440. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1441.  
  1442. Based mainly on French and Khmer language sources, the author examines the encounter of Cambodian Buddhism with modernity under colonial rule. Chapter 4 (“Colonial Collusions,” pp. 109–147) is most important for understanding the modernized Buddhist education system as a focal point for Khmer identity.
  1443.  
  1444. Find this resource:
  1445.  
  1446.  
  1447. Harris, Ian. Cambodian Buddhism: History and Practice. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2005.
  1448.  
  1449. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1450.  
  1451. So far the best-documented and most comprehensive account of Cambodian Buddhism. Chapter 6 (“Buddhism and Cambodian Nationalism,” pp. 131–156) discusses the role of the Buddhist Sangha in the emergence of a Cambodian national consciousness since the 1930s and Sihanouk’s post-independence project of a Buddhist-oriented national community.
  1452.  
  1453. Find this resource:
  1454.  
  1455.  
  1456. Harris, Ian. “Buddhism in Extremis: The Case of Cambodia.” In Buddhism and Politics in Twentieth Century Asia. Edited by Ian Harris, 54–78. London: Bloomsbury, 2010a.
  1457.  
  1458. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1459.  
  1460. Concise overview of the Sangha and the political role of Cambodian Buddhism since the establishment of French colonial rule. The violent suppression of Buddhism during the Khmer Rouge regime and the Buddhist revival since the early 1990s are discussed as well.
  1461.  
  1462. Find this resource:
  1463.  
  1464.  
  1465. Harris, Ian. “Rethinking Cambodian Political Discourse on Territory: Genealogy of the Buddhist Ritual Boundary (sīmā).” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 41.2 (2010b): 215–239.
  1466.  
  1467. DOI: 10.1017/S0022463410000032Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1468.  
  1469. The author demonstrates that the shift from a galactic model of space in premodern Cambodia toward a modern notion of territoriality—which is essential for the nation-state—did not merely result from the imposition of Western concepts and technologies (mapping), but might have been influenced by a modernist discourse on Buddhist ritual boundary stones.
  1470.  
  1471. Find this resource:
  1472.  
  1473.  
  1474. Keyes, Charles F. “Communist Revolution and the Buddhist Past in Cambodia.” In Asian Visions of Authority: Religion and the Modern States of East and Southeast Asia. Edited by Charles F. Keyes, Laurel Kendall, and Helen Hardacre, 43–73. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1994.
  1475.  
  1476. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1477.  
  1478. Contains a section on “The Development of Buddhist-Based Nationalism in Cambodia during the French Colonial Rule.” Other sections deal with the instrumentalization of Buddhism in Sihanouk’s nation-building program and the anti-Buddhist campaign of the Khmer Rouge.
  1479.  
  1480. Find this resource:
  1481.  
  1482.  
  1483. Kiernan, Ben, and Chanthou Boua. Peasants and Politics in Kampuchea 1942–1981. London: Zed Books, 1982.
  1484.  
  1485. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1486.  
  1487. Of relevance to our topic is chapter 4 (pp. 114–126), which reproduces a section of Bunchan Mul’s memoirs Kuk Niyobay (Political prison), translated by Chanthou Boua and introduced by Ben Kiernan.
  1488.  
  1489. Find this resource:
  1490.  
  1491.  
  1492. O’Lemmon, Matthew. “Buddhist Identity and the 1973 Cambodian Buddhist Holy War.” Asian Anthropology 10.1 (2011): 121–138.
  1493.  
  1494. DOI: 10.1080/1683478X.2011.10552607Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1495.  
  1496. A discussion of the religious dimension of the Cambodian civil war between the pro-Western forces of Marshall Lon Nol’s Khmer Republic and the Khmer Rouge, at that time still allied with the Vietnamese Communist forces. It highlights Lon Nol’s ultra-nationalist rhetoric, mated with elements of Buddhist millenarianism, that imbued his racist, anti-Vietnamese policies.
  1497.  
  1498. Find this resource:
  1499.  
  1500.  
  1501. Vietnam
  1502. The most comprehensive study of Buddhism in modern Vietnam is McHale 2004, which demonstrates how Buddhism, along with Confucianism, the cornerstone of Vietnamese national identity, remained vital in Vietnam until the mid-20th century. Moreover, McHale emphasizes that Buddhists and Confucians were deeply concerned about the nation and its fate. While Thien-An 1970 gives a useful introduction to the history, practices, concepts, and role of Buddhism and Zen in Vietnamese national culture, Dô 2010 provides a concise overview of the political role of Vietnamese Buddhism since the colonial period. Topmiller 2006 and McAlister 2008 discuss the role of Buddhist militants in South Vietnam promoting a Buddhist nationalism to counter the Communist threat. Perrin 2011 investigates the history of the Caodai religious movement in Vietnam and its significance in the country’s quest for national independence from France. The author explores the popular nationalist appeal offered by this heterodox Buddhist sect as well as the role it played during the Vietnam War (1964–1975). With regard to the role of Buddhism in shaping nationalist sentiments in present-day Vietnam, Dietrich 2012 provides a comprehensive overview, while Soucy 2007 examines the impact of Zen on the construction of Buddhism as the only genuine national religion in modern Vietnam and among overseas Vietnamese.
  1503.  
  1504. Dietrich, Angela. “The Roots of Interbeing: Buddhist Revival in Vietnam.” 2012.
  1505.  
  1506. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1507.  
  1508. Useful overview of the historical development of Vietnamese Buddhism, Thich Nhat Hanh’s contribution to Vietnamese Buddhism, and his current position in the socialist nation-state.
  1509.  
  1510. Find this resource:
  1511.  
  1512.  
  1513. Dô, Thiên. “The Quest for Enlightenment and Cultural Identity: Buddhism in Contemporary Vietnam.” In Buddhism and Politics in Twentieth Century Asia. Edited by Ian Harris, 254–284. London: Bloomsbury, 2010.
  1514.  
  1515. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1516.  
  1517. A concise overview of the political role of Vietnamese Buddhism since the colonial period.
  1518.  
  1519. Find this resource:
  1520.  
  1521.  
  1522. McAlister, James. “‘Only Religions Count in Vietnam’: Thich Tri Quang and the Vietnam War.” Modern Asian Studies 42.4 (July 2008): 751–782.
  1523.  
  1524. DOI: 10.1017/S0026749X07002855Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1525.  
  1526. The article is a reassessment of the role of a prominent militant Buddhist activist in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War who promoted Buddhist nationalist aims to counter Communism.
  1527.  
  1528. Find this resource:
  1529.  
  1530.  
  1531. McHale, Shawn Frederick. Print and Power: Confucianism, Communism, and Buddhism in the Making of Modern Vietnam. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2004.
  1532.  
  1533. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1534.  
  1535. The author shows how Buddhists and Confucians were deeply concerned about the nation and its fate. The final chapter analyzes the eclectic religiosity of the South, millenarian movements, and the Buddhist revival since the 1920s.
  1536.  
  1537. Find this resource:
  1538.  
  1539.  
  1540. Perrin, Stephanie. “Visions of Vietnam, the Nationalism of the Caodai: Religious Sect and Mass Movement.” History Matters (April 2011): 118–132.
  1541.  
  1542. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1543.  
  1544. The article explores the popular nationalist appeal offered by the heterodox Buddhist sect as well as the role it played during the Vietnam War (1964–1975).
  1545.  
  1546. Find this resource:
  1547.  
  1548.  
  1549. Soucy, Alexander. “Nationalism, Globalism and the Re-Establishment of the Trúc Lâm Thiền Buddhist Sect in Northern Vietnam.” In Modernity and Re-enchantment: Religion in Post-revolutionary Vietnam. Edited by Philip Taylor, 342–370. Singapore: ISEAS, 2007.
  1550.  
  1551. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1552.  
  1553. This chapter discusses the impact of Zen on the construction of Buddhism as the only genuine national religion in modern Vietnam and among overseas Vietnamese.
  1554.  
  1555. Find this resource:
  1556.  
  1557.  
  1558. Thien-An, Thich. Zen Buddhism and Nationalism in Vietnam. Edited, annotated, and developed by Carol Smith. Los Angeles: International Buddhist Meditation Center, 1970.
  1559.  
  1560. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1561.  
  1562. An introduction to the history, practices, concepts, and role of Buddhism and Zen in Vietnamese national culture.
  1563.  
  1564. Find this resource:
  1565.  
  1566.  
  1567. Thien-An, Thich. Buddhism and Zen in Vietnam in Relation to the Development of Buddhism in Asia. Edited, annotated, and developed by Carol Smith. Rutland, VT: Tuttle, 2013.
  1568.  
  1569. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1570.  
  1571. Of relevance is Chapter 5 (pp. 108–147), titled “Trúc Lâm Zen School: The Nationalist Tendencies of Buddhism in Vietnam.”
  1572.  
  1573. Find this resource:
  1574.  
  1575.  
  1576. Topmiller, Robert J. The Lotus Unleashed: The Buddhist Peace Movement in South Vietnam, 1964–1966. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2006.
  1577.  
  1578. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1579.  
  1580. Vietnamese nationalism is discussed in the context of the Buddhist crisis of 1966 in South Vietnam.
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