CALL FOR PAPERS
Conference Title: Theravada Buddhism Under Colonialism: Adaptation and Response
Dates: 24-25 May 2010
Place: Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore
Description:
Southeast Asian forms of Buddhism have long been marked by a close association between the Sangha and the state. For much of the history of the Buddhist polities of Southeast Asia , this association has been manifested as a symbiotic relationship between the monarch and the Sangha. Scholars no longer assume that this symbiotic relationship in which monks legitimized the rule of a king in return for his support necessarily meant that monks were unthinking tools of the state. Nonetheless, in general the Sangha and the state were, and in many ways continue to be, closely interlinked.
In several of the Southeast Asian polities, however, colonialism fractured this relationship, calling into question many aspects of how state and Sangha could and should interact. How did colonial administrations in Southeast Asia react to and incorporate the Sangha within their own administrations? What roles did they see the monks playing under the colonial state? And how did the Sangha respond to the new political masters, and adapt to their changed roles? It was certainly the case that during the colonial period, monks both worked with imperial governments and opposed them in their efforts to preserve Buddhism and to foster national and modern forms of Buddhism.
While much work has been done in studying social change in Southeast Asian colonial polities during the 19 th and 20 th centuries, there has been very little research on the varying effects of colonialism on Theravada Buddhism in the diverse polities of Southeast Asia , particularly of a comparative mode. Such comparisons have been restricted by national and linguistic differences, making fruitful comparison difficult. Moreover there were at least three colonial regimes in the region: the French in Laos and Cambodia , the British in Sri Lanka and Burma , and the Qing state among the Tai communities of Yunnan . Other possible considerations of colonial regimes could be the Central Thai presence and control in Northern Thailand; the American quasi-colonial presence in Thailand during the Cold War and the period of Vietnamese control of Cambodia in more recent times.
This conference, which will be held over 24-25 May 2010, seeks to bring together scholars of colonial-period Buddhism to present papers and to think comparatively about the effects of colonialism on Buddhism in Southeast Asia . Was there a Theravada response to colonialism? If so, how was it marked? If not, what gave rise to the diversity of reactions?
Some of the themes that might be pursued in papers include:
· Colonialism and the development of modern forms of Buddhism
· Buddhist resistance to and accommodation with colonial regimes
· The impact of colonialism on transnational Buddhist networks
· The varying impacts of European and Asian colonialisms on Buddhist
networks
· The diversity of colonial impacts on the masses and the monastic elites.
All participants will be provided with three nights accommodation in Singapore .
Requests for assistance with airfares, especially from Asian countries, will be sympathetically considered.
Call for Papers
Paper proposals are invited from scholars engaged in any aspect of the study of Theravada Buddhism and the colonial experience. Proposals should be received by 31 January 2010 and successful applicants will be informed of their acceptance by 15 February 2010.
Paper proposals should include a title and a 400-word abstract, together with a short biography of the applicant.
Proposals should be directed to:
Buddhism under Colonialism Conference
Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies
30 Heng Mui Keng Terrace
Singapore 119614
Email: nscconferences@iseas.edu.sg
Conference Committee:
Thomas Borchert
Ian Harris
Tansen Sen
Geoff Wade
