Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Hicks, Barbara

Keywords

Sri Lanka, Thailand, Buddhism, Conflict

Area of Concentration

Political Science

Abstract

Religious violence has been a large issue in the conflict resolution and peacebuilding literature, not least because of the seeming contradiction that peace-loving religion can promote such violence. Two examples of this conundrum are the countries of Sri Lanka and Thailand, where the Theravada Buddhist religious tradition has interacted both constructively and destructively with peacemaking efforts. By examining these two countries in case studies beginning in 1932, the current study uses extensive research on news articles and ethnographic work from both local and international sources in an effort at distinguishing the divergent paths Buddhist leaders and their constituents have taken. Challenging the suggestion that a given religious tradition can be simplistically peaceful or war-mongering, this thesis suggests that a sense of active discourse – through symbolic, ritual, and moral authority – helps to explain the differences of opinion and practice in the Theravada Buddhist traditions of Sri Lanka and Thailand. These experiences, in turn, suggest avenues for future work in utilizing religion as a constructive, peaceful component of civil society.

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