Buddhist Monks and the Politics of Lanka's Civil War

Ethnoreligious Nationalism of the Sinhala Sangha and Peacemaking in Sri Lanka, 1995-2010

Buch | Hardcover

294 Seiten

2015
Equinox Publishing Ltd (Verlag)
978-1-78179-078-6 (ISBN)

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The war in Sri Lanka was violent and costly in human and material terms. This was one of the longest wars in modern South Asia. Often referred to as an 'ethnic' conflict between the majority Sinhalas and the minority Tamils, the war had a profound religious dimension. The majority of Sinhala Buddhist monks (the Sangha) not only opposed any meaningful powersharing but latterly advocated an all-out military solution. Such a nexus between Buddhism and violence is paradoxical; nevertheless it has a historical continuity. In 2009 when the war ended amid serious questions of war crimes and crimes against humanity, monks defended the military and its Buddhist leadership. Taking the lives of three key Sangha activists as the modern framework of a Sinhala Buddhist worldview, this book examines the limitations of Western theories of peacebuilding and such solutions as federalism and multinationalism. It analyzes Sinhala Buddhist ethnoreligious nationalism and argues for the urgent need to engage Buddhist politics - in Lanka and elsewhere - with approaches and mechanisms that accommodate the Sangha as key actors in political reform.Sinhala Buddhism is often studied from a sociological or anthropological standpoint.
This book fills a gap by examining the faith and practice of the Sinhala Sangha and their followers from a political science perspective.

Suren Raghavan is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Buddhist Studies - Wolfson College University of Oxford. In 2006 Raghavan won the first Asian award for Federal Studies from James Madison Trust, the Overseas Research Scholars Award of the British Government in 2008 and the Swiss Federal Government Scholarship for Minority Studies in 2011. His publications include Politics of Venerable Walpola Rahula (JOCBS 2011 Volume 3) and 'Ethnoreligious Nationalism of Sinhala Sangha and the Federalism Project' in Religious Pluralism and Political Accommodation - (Routledge 2014).

Preface Acknowledgement Notes on Translations, Pali and Sinhala Words 1. A Paradise - Poisoned? 2. The Social and Political Role of the Sangha in Lanka 3. An Army in Yellow Robes: Sangha Political Resistance 1815-2010 4. Three Sangha Activists and their Politics 5. Federalism and Sinhala Buddhist Nationalism Epilogue Appendix

Erscheint lt. Verlag	15.5.2015
Reihe/Serie	Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies Monographs
Zusatzinfo	6 black and white photos
Verlagsort	London
Sprache	englisch
Maße	156 x 234 mm
Gewicht	1569 g
Themenwelt	Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Zeitgeschichte
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Buddhismus
ISBN-10	1-78179-078-7 / 1781790787
ISBN-13	978-1-78179-078-6 / 9781781790786
Zustand	Neuware