The (New) Buddhist Nationalisms? Symmetries and Specificities in Sri Lanka and Myanmar

Bibliographic Data

ID8065877
AuthorsBenjamin Schonthal (0000-0002-3091-6576, University of Otago, corresponding author), Matthew J Walton (Modern Burmese Studies, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK), Matthew Walton (0000-0001-5882-8837, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume17
Issue1
Pages81-115
Publication date2016-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueContemporary Buddhism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1463-9947 • E-ISSN: 1476-7953
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14639947.2016.1162419
OpenAlexW2470815668
LanguageEN
Citations received29
References cited17

A large proportion of mainstream media coverage of Sri Lanka and Myanmar has grouped Bodu Bala Sēnā (BBS), the 969 Movement and the Organization for the Protection of Race and Religion (MaBaTha in its Burmese acronym) as a single phenomenon. Referred to variously as Buddhist terrorism, Buddhist militarism or Buddhist nationalism, these groups appear in popular media as separate iterations of a shared type. However, beneath the many ostensible symmetries—particularly commonalities at the level of group representation—subtle but significant differences also exist in the groups’ political and religious positionalities and their dispositions towards the promises and perils of development and globalization. Not only are these points of specificity important for purposes of descriptive precision, they are essential for understanding the various stimuli, formations and directions of Buddhist activism in South and Southeast Asia today

Archaeology · Buddhism · Burmese · Epistemology · Geography · Globalization · Linguistics · Mainstream · Militarism · Nationalism · Phenomenon · Political science · Politics · Representation (politics · Sociology · South asia · Sri lanka · Stereotype (UML · Anthropology · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · Asian Studies and History · Psychology · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies · Gender Studies · History · Law · Philosophy · Religious Studies · Social Psychology

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