Religious Resurgence in Contemporary Asia: Southeast Asian Perspectives on Capitalism, the

State, and the New Piety

Author(s): ROBERT W. HEFNER
Source: The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 69, No. 4 (NOVEMBER 2010), pp. 1031-1047
Published by: Association for Asian Studies
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40929282 .
Accessed: 15/02/2015 00:35
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Association for Asian Studies is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The
Journal of Asian Studies.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 132.248.9.8 on Sun, 15 Feb 2015 00:35:45 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

The Journalof AsianStudiesVol.69, No. 4 (November)2010: 1031-1047.

The AssociationforAsianStudies,Inc.,2010 doi:10.1017/S002191
1810002901

in Contemporary
Asia:
ReligiousResurgence
AsianPerspectives
on Capitalism,
theState,
Southeast
and theNew Piety
ROBERT W. HEFNER
Large portionsof East and SoutheastAsia are in the throesof a historically
upsurgein religiousobservanceand association.Many of the
unprecedented
and laitybased than
are inorepopular,voluntary,
new varietiesof religiosity
the religionsof yesteryear.
particiMany are also markedby the heightened
as
otheras
well
on
and
an
women,
well-being
inner-worldly
of
emphasis
pation
to
but
with
on
Southeast
transcendence.
Asia,
references
Focusing
worldly
and
moral
the
social
this
article
examines
in
China,
of
genealogy
developments
easternAsia's religiousvitalization.Many analystshave emphasizedtheinfluence of postcolonialsecularisms,neoliberaldisciplines,and ascendantcivil
societiesin thereligiousresurgence.
Althoughthesefactorshave indeedplayed
the
a role,the macro-narratives
state,capital,and democratization
often
of
and
to
the
microattention
of selffamily,and
meso-passions
giveinsufficient
and proximato
the
have
contributed
which
all
popularization
neighborhood, of
tizationofonce restricted
spiritualdisciplines.

essayconcernsa development
takingplace acrossa broadswathofconAsia:
an
unprecedentedupsurgein religiousritual,association,
temporary
and observance.The resurgencedefiesa centuryof forecastsby secularization
and decline.
theoristsof religionsimminentprivatization
and modernization
Chiefamongthese is that
social characteristics.
The eventalso has distinctive
and laity
the new varietiesof religiontend to be more popular,voluntary,
based than the establishedreligionsof yesteryear.
Many are also markedby
notbyexplicitnormaof
theheightened
participation women,althoughtypically
of genderequality.Last but notleast,some of the new movetiveaffirmations
thanwith
transcendence
mentsalso appearpreoccupiedless withotherworldly
inner-worldly
well-being.
Of course,not all of Asia is being sweptintothisragingreligioustorrent,
and not all new varietiesof religionare popular,prosperityminded, or
Two generationsago, Japan was a pioneer of laity-based,
woman friendly.
religions(Davis 1992; Hardacre 1984; Metraux1996).
peace-and-prosperity
Boston
is DirectoroftheInstitute
on Culture,ReligionandWorldAffairs,
RobertW. Hefner(rhefner@bu.edu)
University.

This content downloaded from 132.248.9.8 on Sun, 15 Feb 2015 00:35:45 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

1032

RobertW. Hefkier

Today,by comparisonwithsome of its neighbors,

Japanis experiencing
onlya
iffora momentI maylook beyondthe
modestreligiousresurgence.Similarly,
easternAsianfocusof thisessaytowardsouthwestern
Asia,anygeneralization
as to religion
s gallopingresurgencehas also to be qualified.Aftera generation
ofreligiousmobilization,
Iranis todayexperiencing
one ofthestrongest
secularand
anticlerical
moments
the
modern
Muslim
world
has
known.
As
izing
ShahramKhosravi(2007) has recently
remindedus,largenumbersofyoungIraniansaredrifting
fromtheirfaith,
of
estrangedfromtheauthoritarian
impositions
the Islamicrepublic.
However,turningback to East and SoutheastAsia,one cannothelp being
struckby the dizzyingproliferation
of new religions,
as well as the no less dramaticrefiguration
of thoseold. In the once securelyCatholicPhilippines,
the
has
seen
dramatic
conversion
to
and
Pentecostal
past generation
evangelical
(Howell2008). In responseto theProtestant
boom,FilipinoCatholiChristianity
cismhas undergoneitsown quasi-Pentecostal
likethatof the offirebranding,
movementknownas El Shaddai.With
ciallyCatholicbut Pentecostal-inflected
its 10 millionmembers,El Shaddaiis the largestcharismatic
Catholicorganizationin theworld(Wiegele2005).
As HyV.Luongand ShaunKingsleyMalarneyhaveshown,Vietnamsincethe
Doi Moi reforms
ofthelate 1980shaswitnesseda "profound
reorientation
of...
the states role,"and thishas been accompaniedby a "significant
resurgenceof
ritualpractice"(Malarney2002, 1, 2; cf. Luong 2010, 226-45). The ritualist
householdrites,but also
surgeincludesnotjust the revivalof long-suppressed
the expansionof public cults,like thatof the Lady of the Realm goddessin
southernVietnam(Taylor2004). In the TheravadaBuddhistlands of Burma,
has also witnesseda steadyexpanThailand,and Cambodia,thepastgeneration
in
sion lay devotion,mostnotablyin the formof meditationmovements.In
Burma,themoreindependentofthesemovements
squareoffagainsta regimebackedBuddhism,creatingdeeplyopposedreligiousimaginaries.
The Theravada
movements
Schober
Scott
share
a characteristic
2007;
1995;
2009, 74, 84)
(Jordt
withPentecostaland charismatic
ChristiansacrossSoutheastAsia: the prominence of women in theirranks.A similarly
gendereddispositionis seen in
There,as NancyN. Chen
manyof Chinas and Taiwan'snew religiouscurrents.
(2003), KennethDean (2003), C. JuliaHuang (2009), and RobertP. Weiler
(1999) have shown,womenare disproportionately
representedin the ranksof
new healingsects,lay Buddhistassociations,Christianconverts,and neotraditionalist
templeworship.
Overthepastgeneration,
MuslimSoutheastAsiahas also experienceda dramaticreligiousrevitalization.
At firstsight,the localizedand/or"middlerange"
and
Comaroff
(Comaroff
2003, 173) qualitiesof the religiousresurgencein
otherareas ofeasternAsia seem less conspicuoushere,as ifIslamin Southeast
Asia were more macrocosmminded than localized. Certainly,transnational
movementsare at work all across Muslim Southeast Asia. Whereas two

This content downloaded from 132.248.9.8 on Sun, 15 Feb 2015 00:35:45 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Asia
ReligiousResurgencein Contemporary

1033

varietiesof
generations
ago, SoutheastAsia was renownedforthe home-grown
Islam made famousby scholarssuch as Clifford
Geertz(1960, 1965) and Sven
Hizbut
Cederroth(1981, 1996), today,Saudi-inspired
conservatives,
Salafiyyah
and Muslim Brothersmove effortlessly
across the
Tahririnternationalists,
region.However,althoughSoutheastAsia's Islamic resurgenceshows clear
influencesfindtheirmeaning,to borrowa
the universalized
globalinflections,
phrasefromAnnaLowenhauptTsing,notin "abstractprinciplesof knowledge
and power,but ratherin concreteengagements"(2005, 67; cf. Hefner1998;
Howell2008, 219-21).
The moststartling
of easternAsia'sreligiousrevitalizations,
however,is that
takingplace in China. China specialistsdo not have to be remindedthatthis
in lightof the highmodernistsecularism
developmentis especiallysurprising
of Chinese MarxismLeninism,expressedin its fullausterity
duringthe Great
Leap Forwardand CulturalRevolution.Yet today,a generationafterthose
tensofmillionsofChineseare activein Budcalamities,
"superstitions-smashing
in ancestraland templerites;
dhistworship;severalhundredmillionparticipate
ofa
mostcommonly
and between20 millionand 60 millionprofessChristianity,
neo-Pentecostal
variety(see Ashiwaand Wank 2009; Chau 2006; Overmyer
Americancomas some conservative
it
2003). Certainly is too earlyto forecast,
mentatorshave,thatChina will soon have the greatestnumberof Christians
outsideof the West.Whatis clear,however,is thatpopularsocietyin China is
buta bustlingandpluralizedrelinotan end ofhistory
secularization,
undergoing
life.
social
of
gionizationofbroadexpanses
easternAsia's
inthisessaythen,iswhether
The questionunderlying
myremarks
coincihistorical
richesis merelya strange
oflatemodernreligious
embarrassment
dence,or whetherit has some commonsociologicaland moralthreadrunning
is a response
thatAsia'sresurgence
havehypothesized
it. Some analysts
through
ascendantneoliberalism.
ofthestateinthefaceofa globally
retreat
totheostensible
Othersof Tocquevillianpersuasionhave seen the resurgenceas the welcome
state.Still
expressionof a civilsocietyrisingin the face of a long overbearing
as theunintended
theresurgence
haveportrayed
othercommentators
consequence
theoffspring
themselves
ofonce securesecularnationalisms,
ofthedestabilization
in theheydayofWesterncolonialism.
introduced
ofpoliticalsecularisms
accounts
directsour attentionto relevantissues,I
each
of
these
Although
whatdrawsnonelitesto new
suggestthat,forthe purposesof understanding
thesemetanarratives
formsofreligiousobservance,
putrathertoo muchempha"secularist"
of the state,globalcapital,and a putatively
sis on the macro-logics
of
the
microand
and
rather
too
little
on
meso-passions self,family,
modernity
life.As HarriEnglundand JamesLeach have notedwithregard
and everyday
narratives
riskobscurtocertainusagesoftheconceptof"modernity,"
high-flying
passions"(2000, 234) of religiousactors,especially
ing the "specificexistential
Michael
those whom I shall call- adaptinga notionfromthe anthropologist
Peletz (1997) "ordinary"
believers.

This content downloaded from 132.248.9.8 on Sun, 15 Feb 2015 00:35:45 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

1034

RobertW. Hefner

Althoughthe macrocosmin which these new religiouscurrentshave

ofpostcolonial
neoliberaldissecularisms,
emergeddoes indeedbeartheimprint
thesenewreligiouscurrents
ciplines,and restlesscivilsocieties,at thegrassroots,
also showtheinfluenceofthingsmorenearat handthanabstract:the desireof
and dignityin the face of farself-initiative,
ordinarybelieversfor security,
This
is
social
not
to
that
the
new religiousmovements
are
reaching
change.
say
not a responseto the ongoingsocial,economic,and moraltransformation
of
East and SoutheastAsia. Theymostcertainly
are. But forbelieversof nonelite
thoseof
provenance,the ideals and methodsof engagementare not typically
structural
or
self-conscious
resistance.
As
the
David
Martin
analyses
sociologist
has said of poor Pentecostalsin the global south,"theyalterwhatis in their
withthemselves"(2002, 12; cf.Maxwell2006, 209).
capacityto alter,beginning
Althoughtheirclass profilevaries,muchthe same is the case formanyamong
Asias new generationofpopularbelievers.
to the mid-range
horizonsof
Havingmade thisappeal forgreaterattention
mostof Asias new religiousactors,I willat the end of thisessaypresentwhat
may strikesome readersas a paradoxicalconclusion.I will suggestthatthe
micro-and meso-horizons
of manyin Asia's religiousresurgenceare not the
resultofthetriumphant
reassertion
ofthelocal,butofthefactthateveryday
lifenetworks
ofinforwayshavenowmorethaneverbeen drawnintotransnational
and
mation,commoditization, power.
Cargo-Cult Religiosity?
Let me beginto diga bitmoredeeplyintotheseissuesbybriefly
the
revisiting
old questionofwhetherthereis a causalrelationship
betweenthereligiousresurand
the
that
has
so
transformed
East and Southeast
gence
capitalist
development
Asiaoverthepasthalfcentury.
The idea thatmodernreligiouschangemightbe
relatedto capitalism
The
is,ofcourse,one oftheoldestin Westernsocialtheory.
as
premisewas centralto theworkof Marx,Durkheim,and Troeltsch,
although,
faras mostAsianistshave been concerned,the thesiswas mostprovocatively
exploredby the GermansocialtheoristMax Weber.Such distinguished
postwar
Asianistsas RobertBellah (1957) and CliffordGeertz(1960, 1965) dedicated
theirearlycareersto lookingforfunctional
equivalentsto Weber'sProtestant
ethicin the thoroughly
un-Protestant
landscapesof East and SoutheastAsia.
Bellahs 1965 collectionon Religionand Progressin ModernAsia extendedthis
themodernization
gaze to thewholeofAsia.Bytheearly1970s,however,
theory
to whichBellah and Geertzhad once dedicatedthemselveshad fallenout of
victimsofthe ragingsocialdebatesofthe 1960s.For a while,thelarger
fashion,
and religionfellbythewaysideas well.
questionofcapitalism
In the1990s,however,
and intheaftermath
ofeasternAsia'ssustainedindustrialgrowth,
nowwitha vengeance
theissueofreligionand capitalismreturned,

This content downloaded from 132.248.9.8 on Sun, 15 Feb 2015 00:35:45 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Asia
ReligiousResurgencein Contemporary

1035

times,thewayinwhichtheissuewas
(see Roberts1995).A signoftheintellectual
and modernizistas
had
had
Whereas
neo-Weberians
assessed,however, changed.
withhowreligionmightinculcatehabitsoftheheart
longconcernedthemselves
was lessintent
thisnewscholarship
and walletconduciveto capitalist
enterprise,
how religionmightmake capitalistenterpriseworkthanwith
on determining
betweencapitalismand religion,including
full
the
rangeof synergies
exploring
formarketperformance
thosewhose implications
mightbe neutral,corrosive,
or fetishized.
Nowhereperhapshas the new studyof religionand capitalismbeen more
thanwithregardto one ofthe morerecentofthe newAsianreligicontentious
rootslie notinAsia,of
s historical
Pentecostalism
Pentecostal
osities,
Christianity.
In theearlyyearsofthe
course,butin EnglandandAmericasGreatAwakenings.
inermillennial
of
the
twentieth
hope, scriptural
century, evangelicalmessage
AmericanpreachandbaptismbytheHolySpiritwasborrowedbyAfrican
rancy,
with
ecstatic
it
who
ers,
weeping,healing,dancing,and speakingin
spiced up
tongues(Martin1990,28; Maxwell2006; Robbins2004). In the 1960s,thePenA
tecostalstreamunderwentan additionalethicaland epistemicpermutation.
newleadershipdirecteditsmessageawayfromthe fire-and-brimstone
theology
docand moremarket-friendly
ofan earlierera,and preacheda kinder,gentler,
trine,whichwe knowtodayas prosperity
theology(Coleman1995).The message
whatJesusofNazarethhad once saidabouta camel,a
wasthat notwithstanding
needle,and the near-zeroprospectsof a richpersongettingintoheaven- God
healthand wealthawaitall
does not wantyou to staypoor. On the contrary,
who abide by His commandments.
gospel
Althoughnot of Asian origins,localizedvarietiesof the prosperity
who
and
charismatics
Asian
Pentecostals
of
the
new
to
generation
appealed
flockedto the faithfromthe 1980s on. The messagewas popular,forexample,
in Indonesia,
withwhomI interacted
ChineseChristians
amongthemiddle-class
Malaysia,and Singaporein the 1980s and 1990s.Otherstudieshave confirmed
thatthe prosperity
messagecarrieswell acrossclass lines,includingin todays
China(butnotTaiwan),wheremillionsofpoorand a smallernumberofmiddleofthefaith(Bays2003;
classChinesehaveflockedtothiswealth-affirming
variety
Martin2002, 155-57; Vala 2009 ).
and nonhas also made inroadsintonon-Buddhist
Christianity
Prosperity
Muslimareas of SoutheastAsia, includingthe Catholic Philippines.In that
and liberCatholicshave defiedthe churchestablishment
charismatic
country,
ationtheologiansand ralliedto the prosperity
messageof spiritualconfidence
and economicsuccess.HoweverincongruousthisCatholicembraceof a neoProtestant
aspectsof religionand
theologymayappear,the examplehighlights
eastern
Asia.
are
across
that
widespread
capitalism
KatharineWiegele has
In her Investingin Miracles(2005), anthropologist
Catholiof
this
with
a
subtle
account
us
Filipinospeciesofcharismatic
provided
whichfirstappearedon the
cism.Wiegeles focusis the El Shaddaimovement,

This content downloaded from 132.248.9.8 on Sun, 15 Feb 2015 00:35:45 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

1036

RobertW. Hefiier

lower-class
Philippinescene in 1981. El Shaddai'soverwhelmingly
membership
in
the
aftermath
of
the
1986
Power
Revolution
and the
grewsteadily
People
economicsurgeof the Fidel Ramospresidency(Wiegele2005, 3). By the late
1990s,El Shaddaihad about 10 millionfollowers.
El Shaddaiis grudgingly
toleratedbymostofthechurchhierarchy,
Although
and
Catholics
can
manyclergy left-leaning
barelyhidetheirdistasteforthemovement.El Shaddai,thesecriticsclaim,is littlemorethana lightly
Christianized
cult.
The
movement
wealth
in
cargo
promises
magicalexchangefor tithing
donationsto the "treasureboxes"so prominently
displayedat El Shaddais fiveto ten-hourprayerrallies.As withDavid Maxwell's(2007) studyof PentecostalisminZimbabwe,Wiegeledismissesthiscargo-cult
characterization
as simplistic.
Butshealsopointsoutthattheunderlying
of
in
the
which
El Shaddai
logic
tithing
membersengage is indeed modeled on a ratherblatantformof spiritualized
patron-clientism.
Throughdonationsand prayer,one seeks to "obligateGod"
intodelivering
miraculousmaterialfavors.No less significant,
El ShaddaitheolPentecostalsin the global
ogy resemblesthatof manyotherfirst-generation
south,inthatitdeflectsthedesiretoproblematize
"structural,
societal,orhistorical understandings
ofinequality"
(Wiegele2005, 1003;cf.Freston2008,26). The
is
If
clear:
fallen
on hardeconomictimes,don'tfeel sorryfor
message
you've
and don'tget distracteddreamingabout structural
reforms
and social
yourself,
If
in
there
with
God
and
do
miracles
will
justice. youget
yourbest,
happen,whateveryourmarginalized
in society.
circumstance
if
not
Social-psychologically, structurally,
speaking,miraclesdo happen.As
Wiegeleexplains,the El Shaddaibrings"ritualspace intothe home and self."
There's the proximatespirituality
to which I referredearlier.This spiritual
of home and self,Wiegeleadds,allows"ordinary
empowerment
people to heal
and to mediatewithGod"; it "rejectsdetermining
notionsofpovertyand seeks
to retelllife historiesand futuresin narrativesof transformative
miracles"
This
(2005, 171).
tangiblyoptimisticand self-empowering
spiritis captured
in
the
chanted
hundreds
of
thousands
of
vividly
slogan
by
mostlypoor people
at El Shaddai rallies:"I am rich! I am strong!Somethinggood is goingto
happento me!" (Wiegele2005, 173).
From the broaderperspectiveof the easternAsian resurgence,the El
Shaddai storyis not unique, althoughits class profileis more impoverished
than manyothermovements.The past generationhas seen wealth-affirming
and individual-"empowering"
take root across the region.A few
religiosities
RobertWeilerpointedout thatin Taiwan and
yearsago, the anthropologist
China,the religiousscene was rifewithamoralghostcults.Weilerdescribed
these cultsas amoralbecause theirspirituallogic is thatof a self-interested
and freelancing
actormakinga quick-and-easy
bargainwitha gift-giving
ghost.
The spiritualdeal makingrequireslittle,if any,public mindedness,and even
In Weilers words,the interaction
less ethicalself-cultivation.
is premisedon
"individualisminstead of community,utilitarianism
instead of familyor

This content downloaded from 132.248.9.8 on Sun, 15 Feb 2015 00:35:45 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Asia
ReligiousResurgencein Contemporary

1037

amoralmarketinsteadof a clearset of
community
good,and an unpredictable,
sharedmorals"(1994, 162).
of similarly
transactionaIn recentyears,we have also seen a proliferation
lized cultsin Vietnamand the Theravadalandsof SoutheastAsia. As Rachelle
M. Scotts (2009) studyof the DhammakyaTemple outside of Bangkok
to selfremindsus, however,not all of these movementsare as indifferent
and publicethicsas Wellers ghostcultists.The largestand fastest
cultivation
of
growing Thailand's Buddhist temples, the Dhammakyarecruitsfrom
higherup in the social hierarchythan does El Shaddai, among the urban
middleclass ratherthanthe poor. The templeuses modernmass media and
to advertiseits religiousservices.In so doing,it operates"in a
slickmarketing
mannersimilarto Soka Gakkai [in Japan]and Foguan Shan [in Taiwan],as
well as the prosperitygospels of prominentChristianevangelicals,"in the
sense that"theTemplelinkspersonaland communalsuccessto the application
of Buddhisttruthsto ones everydayactivities"(Scott2009, 55). At the same
time,and in a manneranalogousto El Shaddais positionwithregardto thePhilippineCatholicChurch,theDhammakyaleadershiptakescare to makepublic
Tellingly,
pledgesofallegianceto Thailand'sreligiousandpoliticalestablishment.
however, the temple uses these declarations to legitimate less
establishment-authorized
practicesand doctrines.Chief among these is that
laicizesthe meditationtraditionof monasticpractice"
the temple"effectively
(Scott2009, 65), makingexercisesonce reservedformonasticmale virtuosos
availableto laymen and women.
The DhammakyathusdrawsdownthehighidealsofTheravadaBuddhism
citizenshopingfora proactiveandproximate
intothelifeworldsofordinary
pracandkeepinginmindthemiddle-class
ticeofthefaith.Seen fromthisperspective,
thatthetemplealso offers
itis notat all surprising
profileofitscoreconstituency,
entrance
for
how
"to
on
exams,transform
wayward
college
prepare
guidance
and bringfamiliestogether"(Scott
teens,cultivateconfidencein professionals,
reli2009,55). The logicofthisand manyothervarietiesofso-calledprosperity
butconfidenceand moralsecurity
gion,then,is notmerelymaterialwell-being,
in thepursuitof nearat handconcerns.
inwhichsomemightexpectnotto see such
Ifthereis one religioustradition
a market-and society-accommodating
mien,it mightwell be SoutheastAsian
Islam. It is notthatIslam is opposed to wealthmakingor class inequalities.As
Muslimreformists
fromthe MiddleEast to SoutheastAsiahaveloudlydeclared
the ProphetMuhammadand hisfirstwifewere
forthebetterpartofa century,
Islamis arguablythemostcomall
the
world
and
of
merchants,
major
religions,
All thisis
at leastas seen fromthe perspectiveof itsscriptures.
mercefriendly,
trueenough,but one wouldhastento add thatMuslimshave not alwaysbeen
fortwobasic reasons.
enamoredofmoderncapitalism,
in the
Western
liberalimaginariesto the contrary,
First,notwithstanding
Muslimworld,moderncapitalismwas not the felicitous
productof individuals

This content downloaded from 132.248.9.8 on Sun, 15 Feb 2015 00:35:45 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

1038

RobertW. Heftier

in bussheddingthe shacklesof feudaloppressionand establishing

enterprises
tlingtownsbenefitingfromthe benignprotectionof commerce-sawykings.
Moderncapitalism
wasintroduced
to mostoftheMuslimworldbyWesterncolonialists.Worseyet,thosecolonialistshad a habitof reserving
the commanding
heightsoftheeconomyforfellowEuropeans.
The secondfactthathas taintedMuslimperceptionsoflate moderncapitalism is thatthe capitalismthatfloodedinto Muslimsocietiesbeginningin the
1970s was no longerthe modestlydressedand appetite-denying
enterpriseof
Max Weber's idealized Calvinist.The new varietywas the self-indulging,
want-inflating,
sensually"liberated,"Big Gulp consumermade famousin the
sociologicalliterature
bysuchauthorsas Daniel Bell (1976) and ColinCampbell
From
Levis
and
McDonalds to Madonnaand LadyGaga,thisconsumer(1987).
istcapitalism
wasthickwithlifestyle
entailments,
manyofwhichstruckobservant
Muslimsas ethically
and Comaroff
2003).
suspect(cf.forAfrica,Comaroff
There continueto be significant
areas of tensionbetweenIslamic social
ethics and late moderncapitalism.Notwithstanding
this friction,a marketand
individualistic
Muslim
ethic
has
now
arrived,and it is havingan
friendly
impacton religionand businessfromMorocco and Qatar to Indonesia.The
SwisspoliticalscientistPatrickHaenni (2005) has coineda phrasethatcaptures
the spiritof thisnew economicethicrathernicely:Islam de march- market
Islam. As Haenni observes,one of the areas of the worldin whichthisIslam
de marchhas made greatestheadwayis MuslimSoutheastAsia.
Much likeEl Shaddai,the proponentsof Islam de marchare moreinterestedin helpingthepious acquiremarketskillsand a keen businesssense than
in providingstructural
analysesof inequalityand reform.For Haenni, thisis
the clearestindicationthatmarketIslam is "post-Islamist,"
in the sense thatit
has "let go of the greatcollectiveprojects[ofyesteryear]
in favorof personal
in
which
what
is
dominant
is
self-realization
and
the
objectives
questforindividual well-being"(2005, 10). As the French politicalscientistGwenael NjotoFeillardhas demonstrated
in a dissertation
defendedat Paris Sciences-POin
about SoutheastAsian varietiesof
February2010, what is especiallystriking
Islam de marchis thatthe mostcelebratedof itsproponentsborrowunhesiofAmericanEvangelicalprosperitists.
Indeed,in Indotantlyfromthewritings
is an
nesia, one of the most successfulof prosperityIslam entrepreneurs
AmericanconvertnamedCraigAbdurrohim
Owensby.Beforehe made millions
in Indonesiasellingsubscriptions
to cell phoneQur'anicpassages,Owensbyhad
workedwithJerry
Falwelland servedas a preacherin Houston,Texas (NjotoFeillard2010, 443; cf.Hoesterey2008; Rudnyckyj
2009).
Exampleslike these do not mean thatall of the new religiouscurrentsin
easternAsiaembracethemarketuncritically.
theirnumbersare dwindAlthough
ling,someFilipinoCatholicsare stilldevotedto theidealsofliberation
theology.
in
their
interest
Western
literature
and
Notwithstanding
self-help
management
theory,most marketMuslims still decry what they regard as the ethical

This content downloaded from 132.248.9.8 on Sun, 15 Feb 2015 00:35:45 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Asia
ReligiousResurgencein Contemporary

1039

in additionto the
barrennessof NorthAtlanticcapitalism.Equally striking,
in
meditation
Burma, Thailand, and Cambodia,
consumer-friendly
groups
thereare good numbersof Buddhistmonksand lay personswho, ratherthan
middle-classwealthmaking,call fora sober and environmentally
legitimating
religiousethics(see Taylor1997).
friendly
incontemporary
easternAsia,then,is not
The storyofreligionandcapitalism
neoliberalizedor even made marketfriendly.
thatof mass religioneverywhere
Like the nun-ledCompassionRelief movementstudiedby C. JuliaHuang
setup byan anticon(2009) in Taiwan,and the SantiAsokBuddhistcommunity
sumeristmonkin Thailand(Scott2007, 40), some of the new religiousmovements dedicate themselvesto the poor and the marginalas much as the
middleclassand mobile.
seems clear.The most
Nonetheless,forthe moment,the verdictof history
successfulof the new religiousstreamshave recruiteda massfollowing
byproconsumerism,
messageon markets,
motinga moreupbeatand accommodating
and wealth.The logic of theiraccommodationsreflectsless a knowledgeor
thana concernto providetheiradepts
of neoliberalabstractions,
endorsement
withwhichto negotiatethe maze of
withthe confidenceand morallegitimacy
the marketplaceand urban society.In the next sectionof this essay,I will
thatappliesto religiousresponsesto capitsuggestthatthelogicoftheproximate
alismalso appliesto the otherelephantin the easternAsianreligiousroom:the
state.
modern,omnipretentious
developmentalist
States and the New Religiosity
behemoth?Could it be thatsome tectonic
What,then,of the nation-state
betweenstateand societyis the real keyto the new
shiftin the relationship
Let me tryto addressthisquestionfirstby lookingback on
Asianreligiosity?
covered.
groundalready
and market
Ghostcultists,
Buddhists,
Christians,
wealth-affirming
prosperity
Muslimsall tend,relatively
speaking,to steerclear of anygrandtheoryof the
of hierarchy
and exclusionin society.Each does so in a
stateor the structures
mannerthatreflectsthe proximateconcerns,capacities,and class standingof
ofthereligioustraand epistemicconstraints
itsbelievers,as wellas thedoctrinal
ditionitself.The lackof interestin abstractpoliticalschemesmayat timesalso
as withChinas healingcults,
of the ritualcommunity,
reflectthe formlessness
likea
in whicha healerworkswithindividualclientsand thuswithoutanything
El
Shaddai
or
At
as
with
the
other
times,
assembly.
Philippines'
congregational
the apoliticism
is compoundedby the sense thatactiThailand'sDhammakya,
vismmightjeopardizetheleaderships politicaland economicinterests.
some
a generaldisinclination
towardgrandpoliticaltheory,
Notwithstanding
to
heed
to
and
the
new
their
adherents
politics public
religions
enjoin
pay
among

This content downloaded from 132.248.9.8 on Sun, 15 Feb 2015 00:35:45 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

1040

RobertW. Heftier

ethics.As CharlesKeyes(1987) and Donald Swearer(1995) have shown,Theravada Buddhismhas longhad an ideal of thejust kingupholdingthe dhamma
in Buddhist
and democracyreformists
conservatives
law. Both establishment
SoutheastAsia invokethatideal to legitimateopposingpoliticalvisions.There
is a similarpatternto Islam in SoutheastAsia. There,both militantIslamists
and Muslimdemocratscite Islam'spublicethicalprincipleto "commandright
and forbidwrong"(Cook 2000), but theydo so in supportof different
political
aims(Hefner2005; Wilson2008). Aboveand beyondthisvariationin politicalhowever,it is striking
mindedness,
that,iftheyturnto politicsat all, the more
successfulreligiouscurrentsdo so by bringing
theirreligiousmessageclose to
the concernsand lifeworldsof ordinary
believers.The politicstheypursueis
one that moves throughsubjectiveand proximatedisciplines,ratherthan
frontal
assaultson a distantstateor religiousestablishment.
This pointis nicelyillustrated
withregardto contemporary
Burma'senormous lay meditationmovement.As JulianeSchoberhas shownin a seriesof
Burmais tornbetweentworival
studies,Buddhismin contemporary
important
animated
different
ethicalvisions.The firstis that
organizations
by profoundly
so lavishlysupportedby the regime-backedState Peace and Development
Council(SPDC), thepresent-day
extensionofthe StateLaw and OrderRestorationCouncilthathas ruthlessly
ruledBurmasince 1988. As Schoberexplains,
the SPDC uses "large-scaleritualsto legitimatea politicalhierarchyof the
state"(2005, 114). ThistatistBuddhismis, of course,thoroughly
political,but
itspoliticsis premisedon a "scripturalist,
and centraotherworldly,
nonpolitical,
lizedsangha"(Schober2005, 117).Thisofficial
Buddhismalsosendsmissionaries
to the nation'stribalmargins,
as an adjunctto the regimes repressiveefforts
at
ethnicand nationalintegration.
Schoberisquicktopointout,however,
thatthereisanother
ofBuddhism
variety
in Burma.It is basednoton theregimes religious
on
the
but
designs,
popularand
As withthelong-suppressed
Nobel Peace
generalizedpracticeof laymeditation.
PrizewinnerAungSan Suu Kyi,someinthemeditation
movement
blenda socially
engagedBuddhismwithWesternpost-Enlightenment
devisingBuddhist
thought,
for
and
human
grounds democracy
rights(Schober2005, 127). As Schoberand
the anthropologist
the largestof the lay
IngridJordthavebothshown,however,
meditation
movements
also engagein a proximate
spiritual
politics:theyseek to
to a lay publicthat,in an earliertime,would have
open vipassanmeditation
The first
been barredfromthiselevatedspiritual
discipline.
principleofthisrelithen,is notstatecapture,butthedesireto open a ritualformonce
giouspolitics,
believers.No less important,
reservedformonasticvirtuososto ordinary
Jordt
featureof thisNew Laityis thatwomen
tellsus that"[t]hemostdistinguishing
in meditation"
are byfarthe mainparticipants
(2007, 158; forThailand,cf.Scott
2009; forTaiwan,see Huang2009; Madsen2007,21-41; Weiler1999,33-^36).
Like Schober,Jordtgoes on to pointout thatthevipassanmovementdoes
Wherethe state
notsteerentirely
clearofhigher-level
politicalpreoccupations.

This content downloaded from 132.248.9.8 on Sun, 15 Feb 2015 00:35:45 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Asia
ReligiousResurgencein Contemporary

1041

and nationalpoliticsare broughtintoview,however,

theyare bywayofconcrete
rather
abstract
The
than
movement,
analyses.
laymeditation
religiousdisciplines
- for
in
search
of
a
solution
"is
not
a
movement
writes,
particular
political
Jordt
exampledemocracy.The movementalso does not challengethe statein the
Andyetthe
sense [James]Scottrelatedin his 'weaponsoftheweak' argument.
forthe politicalenvironment"
movementhas definiteimplications
(2007, 158).
The latteremerge,Jordtadds, because vipassan meditationis a "technique
leadingthe individualto ... a core, reliablesource of knowledgeverifying
whatthe goals of societyare, whatthe obligationsand rightsof the stateare,
and howtheindividualis relatedto state,society,and soteriology"
(2007, 3). In
short,thiseffortat consciousnessbuildingrestson not an abstractblueprint
foran alternativestate order,but the ground-leveldisciplinesof meditative
self-transformation.
and
of religiousauthority
transformation
A similarpopularand proximating
observancehas taken place in SoutheastAsian Islam over the past twenty
migration,
sprawlingurban growth,
years.Two generationsof rural-to-urban
and the spread of new formsof religiousassociationhave all resultedin an
chosenratherthaninheritedfaith,and personal
Islamicreligiosity
emphasizing
mass educationadded
ratherthanvirtuosoprivilege.State-sponsored
initiative
mobileand detraditioto an increasingly
to thepopularsurgebybringing
literacy
to itsnationalist
nalizedpopulation(Hefner2009; cf.Eickelman1992). Contrary
however,manyamongthe newlyeducatedapply
sponsors'originalintentions,
theirlearningnot to state-authorized
tasks,but to a subjectiveand sustained
forthe resurgenceis
the
with
Islam.
Although core constituency
engagement
more middleclass (much as the Theravadameditationgroups)than it is El
Shaddaipoor,these developmentsin Islamicsocietyhave made fora popular
Muslim counterpartto Buddhistlay meditationand charismaticChristian
.
Congregationalism
mediumis,ofcourse,neitherlaymedThe newIslamicmovements'
primary
intheHolySpirit.Those drawnto the
to
welcome
itationnorapostolicgatherings
construct
theirpietyself-transformatively,
newobservancenonetheless
bywayof
Mason
and
circles
smallhalaqah studycirclesor usrah"family"
(Bbalo,Fealy,
2008,57; Salman2006,192;cf.Mahmood2005). The coreethicalpresupposition
forIslamcannotbe delegatedto learned
is thatresponsibility
ofthesegroupings
scholarsor state-appointed
elites,but mustbe rootedin the nearat handdisciplines of self,family,and everydaysociability.Halal food,Arabic greetings,
- all theseare indicesof a
Qur'anicstudy,the Ramadanfast,and dailyprayers
of proximaterealities,and
and refiguration
faithpremisedon the sanctification
some amongthenewlyobserofpietistdisciplines.Certainly,
thepopularization
to themacro-political.
vantgo on to linkmicro-piety
Theyare all themorelikely
to do so whencrisesin stateand societydisruptreligiousroutines,and whena
well-organizedreligious"vanguard"providesnarrativeframesthat convince
For mostamongthe
believersthatlocal crisesare the resultof globalconflicts.

This content downloaded from 132.248.9.8 on Sun, 15 Feb 2015 00:35:45 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

1042

RobertW. Heftier

suchgrandprohowever,
newlypious,notleastofall thepoorand marginalized,
More
to
the
all
such
remain
remote
and
dangerous.
point,
politicalprojects
jects
whentheydo not firstpass throughthe pietistdisciare seen as compromised
(cf.Gade 2004; Smith-Hefner
2007).
plinesof ethicalself-fashioning

Conclusion
let me returnto thequestionwithwhichI beganthis
Bywayofa conclusion,
as
to
what
these
essay,
examplesof religiousresurgence
sayaboutpolitics,
public
incontemporary
East and Southeast
Asia.For thoseofTocqueethics,andreligion
villian
whohavelonghopedthatnewreligious
associations
nurture
persuasion
might
habitsofthedemocratic
seem disappointing.
heart,theanswer,I fear,mayat first
Unlesswe restrict
ourgaze to religious
associations
thatalreadysubscribe
to liberal
ideals- a standard
thatwouldexcludemanyreligiousassociations
in theWest(cf.
Edwardsand Foley2001; Hefner1998,2001)- it is clearthatthepoliticalvalues
ofthenewreligious
currents
arevaried.Someareexplicitly
committed
todemocratic
ideals.A greaternumberpopularizehabitsofpietyand self-cultivation
fromwhich
believers
were
once
excluded.
other
are
either
indifferHowever,
ordinary
groupings
enttodemocratic
inIndonesiawhomI
or,as withtheLaskarJihadmilitants
projects,
havestudied(Hefner2003,2005; cf.Hasan 2006),directly
opposed.Some groups
use the socialand culturalcapitalgeneratedin religiousassociationfornotably
"uncivil"
habitsoftheheart(cf.Edwardsand Foley2001; Keane 1996,19).
Asia'snew religiosity
then,thanthe
maybe less a matterof democratization,
and proximatization
of once restricted
popularization
spiritual
disciplines.
Long a
in
a
doldrums
even
the
Catholic
Church
has
had to
sea,
lumbering
ship
Filipino
resonate
withtheneedsanddesiresofordingivegroundtothedemandthatreligion
believers.
there
are
democratic
ary
Certainly,
qualitiestothesechanges.Ifbydemocratization
we meantheopeningofheretofore
restricted
spherestobroadenedpublic
then
democratization
is
indeed
participation, religious
takingplace. However,as a
formof institutional
is a farmoreprocedural,
rulepractice,moderndemocracy
and
than
such
a
casual
extension
of
the
term
would
allow
bound,
objectified
entity
at workin easternAsias religious
(cf. Stepan2001). Whatis moreimmediately
fieldsis the populardemandforaccess to heretofore
restricted
practicesof the
as wellas theirapplication
to everyday
concernsbyordinary
believers.
faith,
If notthe religiousexpression
of a tectonicdemocraticshift,
then,justwhat
to thefore?The examplesI havediscussedin
broughtthenewAsianreligiosities
thisessayoffertwobroadanswersto thisquestion.First,it seemsthatmanyin
easternAsianeverentirely
lostthehabitofaddressing
questionsofvalue,security,
withtransnatural
real"bywayofanidealizedengagement
andthe"really
beingsand/
whatsecularnationalist
or statesofbeing.Notwithstanding
hegemonsmayhave
in official
influence
thecontinuing
oncetoldthemto believe,and notwithstanding
ofprivate
belief(Asad1993;Ashiwa
viewsofreligion
as a matter
circlesof''Western"

This content downloaded from 132.248.9.8 on Sun, 15 Feb 2015 00:35:45 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Asia
ReligiousResurgencein Contemporary

1043

andWank2009;VanderVeer2001),a goodnumberofordinary
citizenscontinueto
feelthatone buildsa moresecurefoundation
forprivateand publiclifethrough
to thetransnatural
ethicalized
relations
(cf.Seligmanet al. 2008).
the
what
has
Second,
brought resurgenceto theforehas also to do withthe
A simunintendedeffectsofsuccessfulstatebuildingand marketdevelopment.
1950s
the
and
creative
from
the
to
destructive
1970s,the
torrent,
ultaneously
stateand capitalsweptawaymostof the delicatesociomorallatticesthrough
whichpeople gave securityand ethicalorderto theirlives.For some citizens,
and notjust the well heeled or progressive
minded,these changesopened up
new horizonsof mobilityand opportunity,
includingfor women. But for
the
even
some
others,
among
sociallyprivileged,the new landscapewas still
Whereasbefore
blightedby largeexpansesof social and ethicalformlessness.
therewere villagesand marketsregulatedby familyand community
codes,
there is today the sometimesdesultorylandscape of the urban apartment
scrambletowardeduand thenever-ending
ofnon-kin,
block,theneighborhood
and growingold on one s own.
cation,employment,
Whentheyfirstappealedto the massesto join themon the goldenroadto
easternAsia's elites were confidentthattheyhad comprehensive
modernity,
guidesforthe brave new worldintowhichtheyinvitedtheirfellowcitizens.
resThe leadershipeventually
discovered,however,thatit had no enduringly
and intimatelandscapesof
onantethicalplan, not least forthe fast-changing
urbanlife.The exampleremindsus thatin easternAsia, as in much of the
world,dominationin the marketand state does not guaranteehegemonyin
of ordinary
thelifeworldsand moralimaginaries
people.
thatAsia'snewreligious
It is intotheseunstablemicro-and meso-landscapes
The factthatin Beijingand Shanghaitoday,thereare sophisareflowing.
currents
whospeak
someofthemCommunist
ticatedsecularintellectuals,
Partymembers,
ethical
other
or
some
a
"cultural
need
for
of
the
middle-range
Christianity"
favorably
of the perceivedvoid. The macro-structural
code, speaksto the pervasiveness
forproxofthestateandcapitalhaveonlydeepenedthepopularthirst
achievements
In thissense,easternAsia's
imatemoralguidesandinexclusive
spiritual
disciplines.
ofthe late modern
a
notas mystification
is bestunderstood
religiousresurgence
insecurities
butas a creativeand nonsecularresponseto theexistential
condition,
not
withwhich,
and participatory
manyWestern
coincidentally,
opportunities
modernshavealsolonggrappled(cf.McLeod 2007).
List of References
Asad,Talal. 1993. Genealogiesof Religion:Disciplineand Reasonsof Powerin ChrisPress.
tianityand Islam. Baltimore:JohnsHopkinsUniversity
Ashiwa,Yoshiko,and David L. Wank,eds. 2009. MakingReligion,MakingtheState:The
Calif: StanfordUniversity
Press.
PoliticsofReligionin ModernChina. Stanford,

This content downloaded from 132.248.9.8 on Sun, 15 Feb 2015 00:35:45 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

1044

RobertW. Hefner

Bays,Daniel. 2003. "ChineseProtestant

Christianity
Today."In Religionin ChinaToday,
ed. Daniel L. Overmyer,
182-98. China QuarterlySpecial Issue 3. Cambridge:
Press.
CambridgeUniversity
Bell, Daniel. 1976. TheCulturalContradictions
ofCapitalism.New York:Basic Books.
Bellah, Robert N. 1957. TokugawaReligion:The Values of Pre-Industrial
Japan.

Glenme111.:
FreePress.

, ed. 1965. Religionand Progressin ModernAsia. New York:Free Press.

Bbalo, Anthony,Greg Fealy, and Whit Mason. 2008. Zealous Democrats:Islamism
and Democracyin Egypt,Indonesiaand Turkey.Double Bay,New SouthWales:
LowyInstitute.
Campbell,Colin. 1987. The RomanticEthicand the Spiritof ModernConsumerism.
Oxford:Blackwell.
Cederroth, Sven. 1981. The SpelloftheAncestorsand thePowerofMekkah:A Sasak
on Lombok.Gteborg:Universitatis
Communitu
Gothoburgensis.
. 1996. "FromAncestorWorshipto Monotheism:Politicsof Religionin Lombok."
Tmenos32:7-36.
Chau,AdamYuet.2006. MiraculousResponse:DoingPopularReligionin Contemporary
China. Stanford,
Calif.:StanfordUniversity
Press.
Chen, NancyN. 2003. "HealingSects and Anti-Cult
Campaigns."In Religionin China
ed.
Daniel
L.
199-214.
China
Today,
Overmyer,
QuarterlySpecial Issue 3. CamPress.
bridge:CambridgeUniversity
Coleman, SimonM. 1995. "AmericaLoves Sweden:Prosperity
Theologyand the CulturesofCapitalism."In Religionand theTransformations
ofCapitalism:ComparativeApproaches,ed. RichardH. Roberts,161-79. London:Routledge.
on an Awkward
Scale: PostComaroff,
Jean,andJohnL. Comaroff.2003. "Ethnography
colonialAnthropology
andtheViolenceofAbstraction."
Ethnoaraphu4 (2): 147-79.
Cook, Michael. 2000. CommandingRightand ForbiddingWrongin IslamicThought.
Press.
Cambridge:CambridgeUniversity
Davis, Winston. 1992. JapaneseReligionand Society:Paradigmsof Structureand
of New YorkPress.
Change.Albany:StateUniversity
South-eastChina."
Dean, Kenneth.2003. "Local CommunalReligionin Contemporary
In Religionin China Today,ed. Daniel L. Overmyer,
32-52. China Quarterly
Press.
Special Issue 3. Cambridge:CambridgeUniversity
Edwards,Bob,and Michael W. Foley.2001. "CivilSocietyand SocialCapital:A Primer."
In BeyondTocqueville:Civil Societyand theSocial CapitalDebate in Comparative
ed. Bob Edwards,MichaelW. Foley,and MarioDiani, 1-14. Hanover,
Perspective,
N.H.: University
Pressof New England.
Eickelman,Dale F. 1992. "Mass HigherEducationand the ReligiousImaginationin
ArabSocieties."AmericanEthnologist
19 (4): 1-13.
Contemporary
and Meta-Narratives
ofModerEnglund,Harri,andJamesLeach. 2000. "Ethnography
41 (2): 225-48.
nity."CurrentAnthropology
Freston, Paul. 2008. "The ManyFaces of EvangelicalPoliticsin Latin America."In
and Democracyin Latin America,ed. Paul Freston,3EvangelicalChristianity
36. Oxford:OxfordUniversity
Press.
Makes Practice:Learning,Emotion,and the Recited
Gade, Anna M. 2004. Perfection
of Hawai'i Press.
Quran in Indonesia.Honolulu:University
Geertz, Clifford. 1960. Religionof lava. Glencoe,III: Free Press.
. 1965. The Social Historyofan IndonesianTown.Cambridge,Mass.: MIT Press.
Haenni, Patrick.2005. L'Islam de march:L'autre rvolutionconservatrice
[Market
Islam:The otherconservative
Paris:Seuil.
revolution].

This content downloaded from 132.248.9.8 on Sun, 15 Feb 2015 00:35:45 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Asia
ReligiousResurgencein Contemporary

1045

Hardacre, Helen. 1984. Lay Buddhismin Contemporary

Japan: ReiykaiKydan.
N.T.:PrincetonUniversity
Press.
Princeton,
and theQuestfor Identityin
Hasan, Noorhaidi.2006. LaskarJihad:Islam,Militancy,
Indonesia.
N.Y.:
Southeast
Asia Program,Cornell
Post-New Order
Ithaca,
University.
of a DemoHefner, Robert W. 1998. "On the Historyand Cross-Cultural
Possibility
craticIdeal." In DemocraticCivility:The Historyand Cross-CulturalPossibility
of a ModernPoliticalIdeal, ed. RobertW. Hefner,3-49. New Brunswick,
N.J.:
Publishers.
Transaction
Multiculturalism
and Citizenshipin Malaysia,Singapore,and
. 2001. "Introduction:
in MalayPluralismand Citizenship
Indonesia."In ThePoliticsofMulticulturalism:
of
sia, Singapore,and Indonesia,ed. RobertW. Hefner,1-58. Honolulu:University
Hawai'iPress.
. 2003. "CivicPluralismDenied? The New Media andJihadiViolencein Indonesia."
In New Media in theMuslimWorld:TheEmergingPublicSphere,ed. Dale F. EickPress.
IndianaUniversity
elmanand JonW. Anderson,158-79. Bloomington:
Indonesia."In
. 2005. "MuslimDemocratsand IslamistViolencein Post-Soeharto
ed. Robert
Democratization,
RemakingMuslimPolitics:Pluralism,Contestation,
Press.
W. Hefner,273-301. Princeton,N.T.:PrincetonUniversity
. 2009. "The Politicsand Culturesof Islamic Educationin SoutheastAsia." In
MakingModernMuslims:The Politicsof IslamicEducationin SoutheastAsia, ed.
of Hawai'i Press.
RobertW. Hefner,1-54. Honolulu:University
The
2008.
Rise, Fall and Rebrandingof Aa
Hoesterey,James.
"MarketingMorality:
and
Politicsin Indonesia,ed. Greg
In
Islam:
ReligiousLife
Gym." Expressing
Institute
of SoutheastAsianStudies.
95-112.
and
Singapore:
SallyWhite,
Fealy
Context:
SouthernBaptistsin the
in
the
Local
2008.
Brian
M.
Howell,
Christianity
Macmillan.
Philippines.New York:Palgrave
Huang,C. Julia.2009. Chasmaand Compassion:ChengYenand theBuddhistTzu Chi
Press.
Movement.Cambridge,Mass.: HarvardUniversity
Jordt,Ingrid.2007. Burma'sMass Lay MeditationMovement:Buddhismand theCulResearchin International
tural Construction
Studies,
of Power.Ohio University
Press.
SoutheastAsia Series115. Athens:Ohio University
on Violence.London:Verso.
Keane, John.1996. Reflections
Keyes,Charles. 1987. Thailand:BuddhistKingdomas ModernNation-State.Boulder,
Colo.: WestviewPress.
of
Khosravi,Shahram.2007. Youngand Defiantin Tehran.Philadelphia:University
Press.
Pennsylvania
and MarketEconomyin a NorthVietnamese
Revolution,
Luong,HyV. 2010. Tradition,
of Hawai'i Press.
1925-2006.
Honolulu:
University
Village,
Madsen, Richard. 2007. Democracy'sDharma: ReligiousRenaissanceand Political
of CaliforniaPress.
in Taiwan.Berkeleyand Los Angeles:University
Development
Mahmood,Saba. 2005. The Politicsof Piety:The Islamic Revivaland the Feminist
Press.
N.J.:PrincetonUniversity
Subject.Princeton,
inVietnam.New York:
Malarney,ShaunKingsley.2002. Culture,Ritualand Revolution
RoutledgeCurzon.
in LatinAmerica.
Martin,David. 1990. TonguesofFire:TheExplosionofProtestantism
Oxford:Blackwell.
The WorldTheirParish.Oxford:Blackwell.
. 2002. Pentecostalism:
and theRiseofa ZimMaxwell, David. 2006. AfricanGiftsoftheSpirit:Pentecostalism
babweanTransnational
Movement.
Oxford:
Religious
JamesCurrey.

This content downloaded from 132.248.9.8 on Sun, 15 Feb 2015 00:35:45 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

1046

RobertW. Heftier

McLeod, Hugh. 2007. The ReligiousCrisis of the 1960s. Oxford:OxfordUniversity

Press.
Metraux,Daniel A. 1996. "Soka Gakkai:Buddhismand theCreationof a Harmonious
and PeacefulSociety."In EngagedBuddhism:BuddhistLiberationMovements
in
ed.
B.
365-400.
S.
and
Sallie
State
UniverAsia,
Christopher Queen
King,
Albany:
sityof New YorkPress.
Njoto-Feillard, Gwenal. 2010. "Islamet modernit
conomiqueen Indonsie"[Islam
and economicmodernity
in Indonesia].PhD diss.,Institutd'tudes Politiquede
Paris,Ecole Doctoralde SciencesPO.
Daniel L., d. 2003. Religionin China Today.ChinaQuarterlySpecialIssue
Overmyer,
3. Cambridge:CambridgeUniversity
Press.
Muslims'and MuslimResurgents
in Contemporary
Peletz, Michael G. 1997."'Ordinary
In Islam in an Era of NationMalaysia:Notes on an AmbivalentRelationship."
States:Politicsand ReligiousRenewalin MuslimSoutheastAsia, ed. RobertW.
Hefnerand PatriciaHorvatich,
231-72. Honolulu:University
of Hawai'i Press.
Robbins,Joel. 2004. "The Globalizationof Pentecostaland CharismaticChristianity."
AnnualReviewofAnthropology
33:117-43.
Roberts,Richard H., ed. 1995. Religionand theTransformations
of Capitalism:ComLondon:
parativeApproaches.
Routledge.
Daromir.2009. "MarketIslam in Indonesia."Special issue,Journalof the
Rudnyckyj,
Institute,
n.s.,15:S 183-201.
RoyalAnthropological
Salman.2006. "The TarbiyahMovement:WhyPeople JoinThisIndonesianContemporaryIslamicMovement."StudiaIslamika13 (2): 171-240.
Schober, Juliane. 1995. "The Theravada BuddhistEngagementwith Modernity."
Journalof SoutheastAsian Studies26 (2): 307-25.
. 2005. "BuddhistVisionsof MoralAuthority
and CivilSociety:The Searchforthe
Post-ColonialState in Burma."In Burma at the Turnof the 21st Century,ed.
of Hawai'i Press.
Monique Skidmore,113-33. Honolulu:University
Rachelle
M.
2009.
Nirvana
Sale?
Scott,
Buddhism,Wealth,and theDhammakya
for
in
Thailand.
of New YorkPress.
Temple Contemporary
Albany:StateUniversity
Adam
Robert
P.
Michael
and
Bennett
Simon.2008.
Seligman,
B.,
Weller,
J.Puett,
Ritualand Its Consequences:An Essay on theLimitsof Sincerity.
Oxford:Oxford
Press.
University
NancyJ.2007. "Javanese
Womenand theVeilin Post-Soeharto
IndoneSmith-Hefner,
sia."JournalofAsian Studies66 (2): 389-420.
Stepan,Alfred. 2001. "The Worlds ReligiousSystemsand Democracy:Craftingthe
Twin Tolerations.'"In ArguingComparativePolitics,by AlfredStepan,213-53.
Oxford:OxfordUniversity
Press.
Swearer,Donald K. 1995. TheBuddhistWorldofSoutheastAsia. Albany:StateUniversityof New YorkPress.
ActivistMonksand CompetingDiscoursesof
Taylor,JamesL. 1997. "Thamma-chat:
Natureand Nationin Northeastern
Thailand."In SeeingForestsfor Trees:Environmentand Environmentalism
in Thailand,ed. PhilipHirsch,137-69. ChiangMai:
Silkworm
Books.
and PopularReligionin Vietnam.
Taylor,Philip.2004. Goddesson theRise:Pilgrimage
Honolulu:University
of Hawai'i Press.
Tsing,AnnaLowenhaupt.2005. Friction:An Ethnography
of Global Connection.PrinPress.
ceton,N.J.:PrincetonUniversity
Vala, Carsten T. 2009. "Pathwaysto the Pulpit:LeadershipTrainingin 'Patriotic'and
UnregisteredChinese ProtestantChurches."In Making Religion,Making the

This content downloaded from 132.248.9.8 on Sun, 15 Feb 2015 00:35:45 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Asia
ReligiousResurgencein Contemporary

1047

State:The PoliticsofReligionin ModernChina,ed. YoshikoAshiwaand David. L.

Calif.:StanfordUniversity
Press.
Wank,126-50. Stanford,
in India and
Van der Veer, Peter. 2001. ImperialEncounters:Religionand Modernity
Press.
Britain.Princeton,
N.J.:PrincetonUniversity
and the Rise of AmoralCults in
Weller, Robert P. 1994. "Capitalism,Community,
Taiwan."In Asian Visionsof Authority:
Religionand the ModernStatesof East
and SoutheastAsia, ed. CharlesF. Keyes,Laurel Kendall,and Helen Hardacre,
of Hawai'i Press.
141-64. Honolulu:University
. 1999.Alternate
Civilities:Democracyand Culturein Chinaand Taiwan.Boulder,
CO: WestviewPress.
Wiegele, KatharineL. 2005. Investingin Miracles:El Shaddaiand theTransformation
of Hawai'i Press.
in thePhilippines.Honolulu:University
ofPopularCatholicism
In Expressing
Wilson, Ian Douglas. 2008. '"As Long as It'sHalaV:Premanin Jakarta."
Islam:ReligiousLifeand Politicsin Indonesia,ed. GregFealyand SallyWhite,192210. Singapore:Instituteof SoutheastAsianStudies.

This content downloaded from 132.248.9.8 on Sun, 15 Feb 2015 00:35:45 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions