The Buddha was a devoted nationalist: Buddhist nationalism,ressentiment, and defending Buddhism in Myanmar

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.     

Prevalence, antecedent causes and consequences of domestic violence in Myanmar

The present study explored women's experiences of domestic violence in Myanmar. In particular, the study examined the relation between antecedents and outcomes of their experiences as well as influences of attribution styles, response styles and different types of violence on their experiences. Using the Myanmar version of the Revised Conflict Tactic Scale, survey data from a representative sample of 286 women in Myanmar were conducted. Results indicated that 27% of women experienced physical assault and 69% of women experienced psychological aggression in a 1-year period. The factors associated with increased risks of violence included witnessing parental violence, husbands' unemployment, husbands' frequent alcohol use, and women's feminism attitudes. Severe physical assault was a strong predictor of negative outcomes and formal intervention. Formal intervention was related to fewer negative outcomes.     

The Dark Side of Liberalization: How Myanmar's Political and Media Freedoms Are Being Used to Limit Muslim Rights

This article describes how divisive groups have taken advantage of Myanmar's new political and media freedoms to pursue an agenda that will limit the civil and political rights of the country's Muslim population. The article argues that enforcement of the four Protection of Race and Religion Laws will disadvantage Myanmar's already politically marginalized Muslim residents by creating a de facto religious test for full Myanmar citizenship rights. The article examines both the positive and negative aspects of Myanmar's liberalizations, the nature of the ‘Protection of Race and Religion' legislative package and how this will interact with Myanmar's citizenship laws.     

Physical Correlates of Torture Exposure in Karen Refugees

We explored associations between torture history and physical health symptoms of 111 Karen refugees newly arrived to the United States. We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of electronic health data collected at the initial refugee health-screening exam. Unique to this analysis was the exploration of relationships between torture exposure, war trauma, and presenting physical and psychological health issues. We identified no unique effects of torture on physical health above and beyond trauma exposure. Overall, in our sample we found a high prevalence of underlying infectious conditions, pain, and hypercholesterolemia, regardless of torture exposure. We discuss effects of war trauma and torture experiences on physical exam findings and implications for future research.     

Gift narration: dynamic themes of reciprocity,debt, and social relations in Theravāda Buddhist Myanmar

ABSTRACT

Scholarly studies of Buddhist gift-giving have explored the many ways in which gifts are or are not reciprocal. This topic is revisited in this article by the author drawing greater attention to the practice of narration. Instead of understanding Buddhist words about dāna as representing religious doctrines or the experience of its social practice, the author considers how Buddhists narrate dāna as a means of maintaining relationships with self and others. Examining narratives of one monastic gift-recipient, meanings of dāna and moral principles of gift-giving are shown to vary alongside shifting relations between givers and receivers. This case suggests that themes of reciprocity are most salient when narrators grapple with interpersonal threats. Offering possible interpretations of this correlation, the author argues how reciprocal forces could be external social conditions to which narratives respond as well as created ex nihilo through the practice of narration as a strategy of ordering interpersonal conflicts potentially unrelated to reciprocity.