Buddhist Public Advocacy and Activism in Thailand

Buddhist Public Advocacy and Activism in Thailand PDF Author: Craig M. Pinkerton
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031509234
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description

Buddhist Public Advocacy and Activism in Thailand

Buddhist Public Advocacy and Activism in Thailand PDF Author: Craig M. Pinkerton
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031509234
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description


Buddhist Public Advocacy and Activism in Thailand

Buddhist Public Advocacy and Activism in Thailand PDF Author: Craig M. Pinkerton
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Buddhism
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Public advocacy and activism play an important role in shaping public culture and civil society. In modern Thailand and historical Siam, Buddhism has been a key factor in the social change processes shaping modern civil society, and rhetoric has been a key factor shaping this sphere of public life. This study examined two problems: (1) how contemporary Thai Buddhists justify their advocacy and activism in rhetorical practice--efforts that are under the duress of justification because of the expectation for monastics in particular to operate apolitically and the widespread false assumption that Buddhists are not concerned with social problems or public issues--and (2) how Thai Buddhists use rhetorical practice to influence the way we understand the issues they work on.

Buddhism and Politics in Thailand

Buddhism and Politics in Thailand PDF Author: Somboon Suksamran
Publisher: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies
ISBN: 9971902435
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 191

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Book Description
This book studies the interaction of the Sangha (the community of monks) with politics and socio-political change in Thailand. Although the interaction of Buddhism and politics is recognized, it is seldom acknowledged and frequently denied. This paradox derives from two deeply rooted notions: first, that politics is "the dirtiest business" second, that only "pure" Buddhism and a "sound" Sangha can ensure the moral welfare of the nation, and their preservation in unadulterated form is critical for the survival of national unity.

The Ashgate Research Companion to Religion and Conflict Resolution

The Ashgate Research Companion to Religion and Conflict Resolution PDF Author: Lee Marsden
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317041836
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 438

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Book Description
A comprehensive overview of the latest research in religion and conflict resolution, this collection of twenty three essays brings together leading scholars in the field examining the contribution religious actors have made and are making towards peace and resolving. The Ashgate Research Companion to Religion and Conflict Resolution is primarily aimed at readerships with special interest in conflict resolution, international security, and religion and international relations, and will also serve as a valuable resource for policy makers and conflict resolution practitioners. The collection comprises five thematic sections, each with chapters on vital and mainly contemporary topics in the field of religion and conflict resolution. The principal themes include: ยข

Buddhist Fury

Buddhist Fury PDF Author: Michael K. Jerryson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199793239
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
Buddhist violence is not a well-known concept. In fact, it is generally considered an oxymoron. An image of a Buddhist monk holding a handgun or the idea of a militarized Buddhist monastery tends to stretch the imagination; yet these sights exist throughout southern Thailand.Michael Jerryson offers an extensive examination of one of the least known but longest-running conflicts of Southeast Asia. Part of this conflict, based primarily in Thailand's southernmost provinces, is fueled by religious divisions. Thailand's total population is over 92 percent Buddhist, but over 85 percent of the people in the southernmost provinces are Muslim. Since 2004, the Thai government has imposed martial law over the territory and combatted a grass-roots militant Malay Muslim insurgency.Buddhist Fury reveals the Buddhist parameters of the conflict within a global context. Through fieldwork in the conflict area, Jerryson chronicles the habits of Buddhist monks in the militarized zone. Many Buddhist practices remain unchanged. Buddhist monks continue to chant, counsel the laity, and accrue merit. Yet at the same time, monks zealously advocate Buddhist nationalism, act as covert military officers, and equip themselves with guns. Buddhist Fury displays the methods by which religion alters the nature of the conflict and shows the dangers of this transformation.

The Ordination of a Tree

The Ordination of a Tree PDF Author: Susan M. Darlington
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 1438444664
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
Thai Buddhist monks wrap orange clerical robes around trees to protect forests. "Ordaining" a tree is a provocative ritual that has become the symbol of a small but influential monastic movement aimed at reversing environmental degradation and the unsustainable economic development and consumerism that fuel it. This book examines the evolution of this movement from the late 1980s to the present, exploring the tree ordination and other rituals used to resist destructive national projects. Susan M. Darlington explores monks' motivations, showing how they interpret their lived religion as the basis of their actions, and provides an in-depth portrait of activist monk Phrakhru Pitak Nanthakhun. The obstacles monks face, including damage to their reputations, arrest, and even assassination, reveal the difficulty of enacting social justice. Even the tree ordination itself must now withstand its appropriation for state projects. Despite this, monks have gone from individual action to a loosely allied movement that now works with nongovernmental organizations. This is a fascinating, firsthand account of engaged Buddhism.

Buddhism and Politics in Thailand

Buddhism and Politics in Thailand PDF Author: Arnaud Dubus
Publisher:
ISBN: 9786167571324
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 92

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Book Description


Buddhist Revivalist Movements

Buddhist Revivalist Movements PDF Author: Alan Robert Lopez
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137540869
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
This text provides a comparative investigation of the affinities and differences of two of the most dynamic currents in World Buddhism: Zen Buddhism and the Thai Forest Movement. Defying differences in denomination, culture, and historical epochs, these schools revived an unfettered quest for enlightenment and proceeded to independently forge like practices and doctrines. The author examines the teaching gambits and tactics, the methods of practice, the place and story line of teacher biography, and the nature and role of the awakening experience, revealing similar forms deriving from an uncompromising pursuit of awaking, the insistence on self-cultivation, and the preeminent role of the charismatic master. Offering a pertinent review of their encounters with modernism, the book provides a new coherence to these seemingly disparate movements, opening up new avenues for scholars and possibilities for practitioners.

The Social Movement of Spiritually Engaged Alternative Education in Thailand Against the Background of Reform and Globalization

The Social Movement of Spiritually Engaged Alternative Education in Thailand Against the Background of Reform and Globalization PDF Author: Michael Ernest Jones
Publisher: Universal-Publishers
ISBN: 1599423669
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 355

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Book Description
The establishment of alternative education, private foundations, and networks linked to socio-political and spiritual advocacies distinguishes the Thai social movement in this research. This research is a qualitative study that has made use of historical accounts to associate with data gathered from extensive interviews and case studies in order to inquire as to whether alternative education represents an historical spiritual tradition of opposition to reform hegemony, and whether it has had an impact on state reform efforts. Also investigated was whether there are some historical patterns associated with the manner in which the state of Thailand has dealt with the forces of globalization and whether the collective action by informal movements of Thai people also has the same predictable pattern of response to the global. Analysis and comparison of these issues contribute in determining the values associated with people in the alternative education movement and the motives and intentions associated with state-initiated reforms. A further related aspect explored is the degree of "Thai-ness" and the embedded historical pattern of both the alternative education movement and education reform. These inquiries were answered through the collection of data from three different trips to Thailand over a four-year period, the last trip a one-year stay that permitted case studies and observations at three alternative schools, and the interview of a host of participants from home-school parents and students to Ministry of Education staff and officers. In examining the data, a clearer notion of what lies underneath the idea of Buddhist education and spirituality became clearer and how educational reform based on Western ideals and notions has not taken into account Buddhism and culture as education. This illumination brings new insight and also raises a new question as to the difference between social movements in a Buddhist nation such as Thailand and social movements in the West.

Buddhism and Politics in Thailand

Buddhism and Politics in Thailand PDF Author: Arnaud Dubus
Publisher:
ISBN: 9782355960468
Category : Political science (General)
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Despite the often-repeated assertion that Buddhism and politics are, or at least must be, separate matters, Buddhism has been closely intertwined with politics one way or another since the Buddha's time. In Thailand, Buddhism has been used since the end of the 19th century as a tool to legitimate state power. In the following decades, it has been progressively centralized under a national hierarchy, which is still existing today. This scheme was not altered after the change of the country's political framework in 1932 and political tensions with the sangha came to the fore during the political troubles of the 1970s. The emergence of an increasing political divide in Thailand since the mid-2000s, around two broad groups which have been dubbed the Yellow Shirts and the Red Shirts, has engulfed the monastic community, leading to a growing activism by some Buddhist groups, some temples and some monks. Numerous monks mingled with Red Shirts demonstrators in April-May 2010, and some were on the front-line when the military gave the assault on the Red Shirts' camp in downtown Bangkok. In the most recent years, these tensions have coalesced around the controversial Dhammakaya temple and have impacted the choice of the leader of the Thai monastic community. Although, tensions within the sangha are nothing new, they have weakened the ability of Buddhism - one of the national pillars of the Thai national ideology - to be a focal point as the country is going through a difficult transition with the end of seven-decades prestigious reign and political uncertainties clouding the horizon.