The appropriation of religion in Southeast Asia and beyond

This volume investigates various processes by which world religions become localized, as well as how local traditions in Southeast Asia and Melanesia become universalized. In the name of modernity and progress, the contemporary Southeast Asian states tend to press their populations to have a ‘religion,' claiming that their local, indigenous practices and traditions do not constitute religion. Authors analyze this ‘religionization,’ addressing how local people appropriate religion as a category to define some of their practices as differentiated from others, whether they want to have a religion or are constrained to demonstrate that they profess one. Thus, ‘religion’ is what is regarded as such by these local actors, which might not correspond to what counts as religion for the observer. Furthermore, local actors do not always concur regarding what their religion is about, as religion is a contested issue. In consequence, each of the case studies in this volume purposes to elucidate what gets identified and legitimized as ‘religion’, by whom, for what purpose, and under what political conditions. Read more... Abstract: This volume investigates various processes by which world religions become localized, as well as how local traditions in Southeast Asia and Melanesia become universalized. In the name of modernity and progress, the contemporary Southeast Asian states tend to press their populations to have a ‘religion,' claiming that their local, indigenous practices and traditions do not constitute religion. Authors analyze this ‘religionization,’ addressing how local people appropriate religion as a category to define some of their practices as differentiated from others, whether they want to have a religion or are constrained to demonstrate that they profess one. Thus, ‘religion’ is what is regarded as such by these local actors, which might not correspond to what counts as religion for the observer. Furthermore, local actors do not always concur regarding what their religion is about, as religion is a contested issue. In consequence, each of the case studies in this volume purposes to elucidate what gets identified and legitimized as ‘religion’, by whom, for what purpose, and under what political conditions Front Matter ....Pages i-xi Introduction: Local Traditions and World Religions. Encountering ‘Religion’ in Southeast Asia and Melanesia (Michel Picard)....Pages 1-38 About Buddhist Burma: Thathana, or ‘Religion’ as Social Space (Bénédicte Brac de la Perrière)....Pages 39-66 The (Re)configuration of the Buddhist Field in Post-Communist Cambodia (Anne Yvonne Guillou)....Pages 67-93 Re-connecting the Ancestors. Buddhism and Animism on the Boloven Plateau, Laos (Guido Sprenger)....Pages 95-121 Balinese Religion in the Making: An Enquiry About the Interpretation of Agama Hindu as ‘Hinduism’ (Michel Picard)....Pages 123-152 Return to the Source: A Balinese Pilgrimage to India and the Re-Enchantment of Agama Hindu in Global Modernity (Annette Hornbacher)....Pages 153-183 A Wall, Even in Those Days! Encounters with Religions and What Became of the Tradition (Cécile Barraud)....Pages 185-215 Encounters with Christianity in the North Moluccas (Sixteenth–Nineteenth Centuries) (Jos. D. M. Platenkamp)....Pages 217-249 Continuity and Breaches in Religion and Globalization, a Melanesian Point of View (André Iteanu)....Pages 251-277 Back Matter ....Pages 279-285