RT Article
T1 The Buddha was a devoted nationalist: Buddhist nationalism, ressentiment, and defending Buddhism in Myanmar
JF Religion
VO 49
IS 4
SP 661
OP 690
A1 Foxeus, Niklas 1967-
LA English
YR 2019
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1681168421
AB Since 2012, Buddhist nationalist movements - especially the 969 movement and Ma Ba Tha - have emerged in Burma/Myanmar seeking to defend Buddhism against mainly the Muslim minority, with monks delivering nationalist anti-Muslim sermons to huge audiences. The aim of this article is to demonstrate how a discriminatory nationalist agenda can - by appealing to the common trope of Buddhism-in-danger - appear to be justified to Buddhists. Based mainly on nationalist sermons, as well as on fieldwork and nationalist publications, this article examines discourse on the Buddha as a nationalist. First, it argues that Burmese Buddhist nationalism, analytically, should be understood as a ressentiment ideological discourse that also informs a Buddhist-nationalist discipline claimed to bring karmic merit. Second, it traces the roots of this ideology to the colonial period. Third, the article outlines and seeks to define how ‘Buddhist nationalism' should be understood in an emic sense.
K1 Buddhism
K1 Buddhist nationalism
K1 Burma/Myanmar
K1 Ma Ba Tha
K1 Nationalism
K1 Religion And Politics
DO 10.1080/0048721X.2019.1610810