Posted in Members, Research on February 1, 2020|
Hello,
Here also a small update for the webpage from my side. Since 2018 I have been working at the Max-Planck-Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity (Göttingen, Germany), and carry out research in the context of the Max Planck-Cambridge Centre for the Study of Ethics, Human Economy and Social Change (‘Max-Cam’). My project focuses on recent economic transformations in Laos, and their impact on Buddhist institutions and practices. After a long period of isolation following the communist revolution in 1975, the politics of reform, and investments from neighboring countries have lead to substantial economic growth in urban areas of Laos. In my research, I want to trace the effects of the expanding economy onto the religious field, and especially rituals. I am trying to understand how and why specific actors channel parts of their new acquired wealth into Buddhist rituals, and thereby support temples and Buddhist institutions.
In 2019 I stayed in Laos for several months, and first undertook fieldwork in the capital Vientiane. There I worked with Buddhist ritual lay-specialist called mo phon who officiate at certain life-cycle rituals, in case of illness etc. My main interest here was to analyze how the remuneration for these ritual services and the associated moral economy have changed, and how these ritual specialists now care for a diversified, but also socially stratified audience. I also worked with businesses and companies, which perform large group donations and renovate Buddhist temples. Some more vignettes of my fieldwork on Buddhism and the economy can be found here:
The second part of fieldwork was carried out in large monastery school outside of Luang Prabang in northern Laos. About 500 pupils (mostly from very poor countryside families) live and learn in this Buddhist boarding school, which is largely financed by donations by wealthy Lao. The monastery school in this sense acts as an institution that redistributes wealth.n The school has also become a migration node for young men from impoverished families from rural areas. Temporary ordination as a novice or monk enables them to get a better education. After they have taken their final examinations, they disrobe and move on to live in urban areas.
At the moment I am still busy publishing results from past projects, some of which were more historically oriented. With my colleague Gregory Kourilsky (École française d’Extrême-Orient, Vientiane) I undertook research on Buddhist law financed by the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhist Studies (2017-19), Additionally to my anthropological research, I continue publishing on Buddhism under colonialism and during the Cold War in Southeast Asia.
Kind regards, Patrice Ladwig
Link 1, 2, 3
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