Who Owns Religion? Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Cultural Appropriation in Postglobal Buddhism

Borup, Jørn

doi:10.1163/15685276-12341574

Cited by 15 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Fourth, studies of Buddhism in other non-Asian contexts have observed that hybrid or combinatory approaches often appear among religious seekers who accept various denominational traditions as potential resources to draw upon in developing a Buddhist practice appropriate to their situation (Kemp 2008 We suggest it would also be valuable to explore the local extent to which international, "postmodern" Buddhism (Gleig 2019) and "postglobal" Buddhist identity politics (Hickey 2010;Borup 2020) manifest in Aotearoa, and in particular with respect to issues such as the dynamics of white privilege of non-heritage Buddhists in relation to those of Asian and Buddhist heritage. Other areas such as exploring engagement by tangata whenua (Māori) and Pasifika peoples with Buddhism could be explored.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Buddhism in Aotearoa New Zealand: Multiple Sources and Diverse Forms

McAra

Mullins

2022

JGB

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This article presents a provisional survey of Buddhists and Buddhist organizations in Aotearoa/New Zealand, identifying their key characteristics in terms of national origin, ethnicity, and areas of geographical concentration. We draw on three decades of the New Zealand census (1991-2018) to analyze demographic data about those who identify as Buddhist, and information from the NZ Charities Register to identify general characteristics of the diverse range of Buddhist organizations in the country. Based on this demographic data, we identify three main types of Buddhist institutions: (1) centers/temples serving heritage or “migrant” communities from Asian countries with Buddhist heritage; (2) centers which we refer to as “Pākehā/Multi-ethnic” because they serve newer Buddhists (“converts”) who are primarily but not exclusively Pākehā (NZ European), and (3) “multi-ethnic” organizations that include varying combinations of heritage and non-heritage Buddhists. Within each of the three categories we see diverse organizational forms and streams of distinctive Buddhist traditions, including sectarian, ethnic, and hybrid forms, each of which have contributed to a diverse religious landscape in significant ways. Most Buddhist centers are in urban areas, with 70 percent in or near Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch. The main Buddhist traditions are almost equally represented across these institutions with 35 percent identified as Mahayana, 32 percent as Theravada, and 35 percent as Vajrayana (and 0.7% as mixed). The number of Buddhists in New Zealand has increased over the past three decades from 12,705 to 52,779, and approximately 80 percent identify with at least one of the Asian ethnic groups. Buddhists constitute only 1.1 percent of the total population, with at least 134 centers of varying sizes across the country. However, Buddhism may be exerting a cultural influence beyond these numbers, as recent research identified Buddhists as the “most trusted” religious group in contemporary New Zealand. In presenting this preliminary survey, we aim to provide a base for more in-depth investigations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Buddhism in Aotearoa New Zealand: Multiple Sources and Diverse Forms

McAra

Mullins

2022

JGB

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“…Besides, the lack of representation of women of faith in the journalism and media workforce has led to the neglect of the voice of women of faith in a media environment as the free expression of wo-men of faith may not be accepted. Furthermore, certain elements in religion are commercialised or politicised under the social framework of patriarchy or populism (Carrette and King 2005;Borup 2020).…”

Section: Women Of Faith In Mediamentioning

confidence: 99%

A UK ANALYSIS: Empowering Women of Faith in the Community, Public Service, and Media

Lowe¹,

Huang²,

Urkmezturk³

2022

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In the UK, belief, and faith are protected under the legal frame of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) and the Equality Act 2010 (Perfect 2016, 11), in which a person is given the right to hold a religion or belief and the right to change their religion or belief. It also gives them a right to show that belief as long as the display or expression does not interfere with public safety, public order, health or morals, or the rights and freedoms of others (Equality Act 2010). The Equality Act 2010 protects employees from discrimination, harassment and victimisation because of religion or belief. Religion or belief are mainly divided into religion and religious belief, and philosophical belief (Equality Act 2010, chap. 1). The Dialogue Society supports the Equality Act 2010 (Perfect 2016, 11). Consequently, The Dialogue Society believes we have a duty to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations within our organisation and society. The Dialogue Society aims to promote equality and human rights by empowering people and bringing social issues to light. To this end, we have organised many projects, research, courses, scriptural reasoning readings/gatherings, and panel discussions specifically on interfaith dialogue, having open conversations around belief and religion. To encourage dialogue, interaction and cooperation between people working on interreligious dialogue and to demonstrate good interfaith relations and dialogue are integral and essential for peace and social cohesion in our society, the Dialogue Society has been a medium, facilitating a platform to all from faith and non-faith backgrounds. The Dialogue Society thrives on being more inclusive to those who might be overlooked in society as a group. Although women seem to be in the core of society as an essential element, the women who contravene the monotype identity tend to remain in the shadows. The media is not just used to get information but also used as a way of having a sense of belonging by the audience. The media creates collective imaginary identities for public opinion. It gathers the audience under one consensus and creates an identity for the people who share this consensus. Hence, a form of media functions as a medium for identity creation and representation. Therefore, the production and reproduction of stereotypes and a monotype representation of women and women of faith in media content are the primary sources of the public's general attitudes towards women of faith. In the context of this report, the media limits not only women's gender but also their religious identity. The monotype identity of women opposes the plurality of the concept of women. Notably, media outlets are criticised for not recognising the differences in women's identities. Women of faith are susceptible to the lack of representation or misrepresentation and get stuck between the roles constructed for their gender and religion. Women who do not fit in these policies' stereotypes get misrepresented or disregarded by the media. Moreover, policymakers also limit their scope to a single monotype of women's identity when policies are made, creating a public consensus around women of faith. As both these mediums lack representation or have very symbolic and distorted representations of women of faith, we strive to provide a platform for all women from faith and non-faith backgrounds. The Dialogue Society has organised women-only community events for women of faith to have a bottom-up approach, including interfaith knitting, reading, and cooking clubs. Several women-only courses have informed women of the importance of interfaith dialogue, promoting current best practices, and identifying and promoting promising future possibilities. We have hosted panel discussions and held women-only interfaith circles where women from different faith backgrounds came together to discuss boundaries within religion and what they believed to transgress their boundaries. Consequently, we organised a panel series to focus on the roles of women of faith within different areas of society, aiming to highlight their unique individual and shared experiences and bring to light issues of inequality that impact women of faith. Although women of faith exist within all areas of society, we chose to explore women's experiences within three different settings to give a breadth of understanding about women of faith's interactions within society. Therefore, we held a panel series titled 'Women of Faith', including three panels, each focusing on a particular area: Women of Faith in Community, Women of Faith in Public Service, and Women of Faith in Media. In this report, following the content analysis method to systematically sort the information gathered by the panel series, we have written a series of recommendations to address these issues in media and policymaking. This paper has a section on specific policy recommendations for those in decision-making positions in the community, public service, and media, according to the content and findings gathered. This report aims to initiate and provide interactive and transferable advice and guidance to those in a position. The policy paper gives insight to social workers, teachers, council members, liaison officers, academics and relevant stakeholders, policymakers, and people who wish to understand more about empowering women of faith and hearing their experiences. It also aims to inspire ongoing efforts and further action to accelerate the achievement of complete freedom of faith, gender equality in promoting, recommending, and implementing direct top-level policies for faith and gender equality, and ensuring that existing policies are gender-sensitive and practices are safe from gender-based and faith-based discrimination for women of faith. Finally, this report is to engage and illustrate the importance of allyship, the outstanding achievement through dialogue based on real-life experience, and facilitate resilient relationships among people of different religious positions. We call upon every reader of this report to join the efforts of the Dialogue Society in promoting an equal society for women of faith.

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“…Feminist critical scholars address intersectionist challenges such as "racism, anti-Blackness, sexism, casteism, Islamophobia, and orientalism" in the field of South Asian religions. 11 Buddhist studies in (primarily the U.S.) have increasingly adopted critical approaches to oppose previous traditions and promote new alternatives (Borup 2020). The old 'textual paradigm' for decades have been questioned, but is now also rendered as reinscribing and extending "the racist, Eurocentric To him, all scholarship is political and he sees his own role as a scholar of religion to engage with race and gender.…”

Section: Alternatives: Reconstructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identity Turn: Managing Decolonialization and Identity Politics in the Study of Religion

Borup

2021

Method Theory Study Relig.

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The academic study of religion, with its concepts and theories that originate in a Western, Protestant context, has justly been criticized in postmodern and identity-focused discourses, in recent years under the umbrella of decolonization and social justice activism. It has been suggested that allegedly universally-applicable theories and methodologies are relativized and revealed as particularized Eurocentrism in the hegemonic representations of “white” or “Western” power regimes. While acknowledging such reorientations in the philosophy, sociology, psychology, and history of religion, this article also critically investigates and discusses the “critical study of religion.” It is suggested that the revisionist deconstruction emphasized by contemporary identity perspectives, with their discourses of difference and re-essentialized understandings of religion and culture, are not only problematic as theoretical orientations. Radical identity politics also imply methodological constraints on the academic study of religion, where comparison, analytical categories, and reflexive emic–etic distinctions must remain key factors.

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Who Owns Religion? Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Cultural Appropriation in Postglobal Buddhism

Cited by 15 publications

References 36 publications

Buddhism in Aotearoa New Zealand: Multiple Sources and Diverse Forms

Buddhism in Aotearoa New Zealand: Multiple Sources and Diverse Forms

A UK ANALYSIS: Empowering Women of Faith in the Community, Public Service, and Media

Identity Turn: Managing Decolonialization and Identity Politics in the Study of Religion

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