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OverviewA deeply human portrait of a region defined by conflict and military dictatorship. Pursuing Morality is an in-depth and fascinating study of ordinary life in Myanmar’s southeast through a unique ethnographic focus on Buddhist Plong (Pwo) Karen. Based on extensive in-depth fieldwork in the small city of Hpa-an, the capital of Karen State, Justine Chambers shines a new light on Plong Buddhists’ lives and the many ways they broker, traverse, enact, cultivate, defend, and pursue moral lives. This is the first ethnographic study of Myanmar to add to a growing body of anthropological scholarship that is referred to as the “moral turn.” Each chapter examines the lives of Plong Buddhists from different vantage points, calling into question many assumptions about Southeast Asian values and the nature of Buddhist Theravada practice. Critiquing the notion that moral coherence is necessary for ethical selfhood, Chambers demonstrates how the pursuit of morality is varied, performative, and embedded in an affective notion of the self as a moral agent in a relationship with wider structural political forces. This vivid account of everyday life in Myanmar complements existing scholarship on the region and offers a deeper understanding of Buddhism, moral anthropology, and ethics in Southeast Asia. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Justine ChambersPublisher: NUS Press Imprint: NUS Press Weight: 0.454kg ISBN: 9789813252691ISBN 10: 9813252693 Pages: 248 Publication Date: 31 July 2024 Audience: Professional and scholarly , Professional & Vocational Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: In Print  This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us. Table of ContentsLIST OF FIGURES ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ACRONYMS LANGUAGE AND TERMINOLOGY GLOSSARY PRELUDE INTRODUCTION Studying Morality as an Outsider in a Hospitable Land Chapter Outline CHAPTER ONE KAREN: A MORAL PEOPLE IN A CONFLICT STATE Conflict in Southeast Myanmar: The Moral Karen and the Struggle for Kawthoolei Introducing Hpa-An: A Centre for Militarised Buddhist Authority Karen Unity Amid Division: Coming Together in the Karen Wrist Tying Ceremony Competing Moral Projects of Power and Statehood in a Time of Change CHAPTER TWO BROKERING MORALITY IN THE BUDDHIST 'MORAL UNIVERSE' A Charismatic Monk, his Daga and the 'Merit-Power' Nexus The Buddhist 'Moral Universe' A Buddhist Strongman: The Moral Consequences of Unclean Business Morality Without Faith? Keeping Thout Kyar as A Plong Ideal Reflections on Brokering Morality in a Power-Laden Landscape CHAPTER THREE TRAVERSING MORALITY IN A CHANGING WORLD Hpa-An's Changing Social Landscape Aspiring Subjects: Searching for a 'Life Of Curry' The Limits Of Moral Agency Reflections on Traversing Morality in a Changing World CHAPTER FOUR ENACTING MORALITY: COMING OF AGE ON SHIFTING MORAL GROUND Coming of Age as a Young Plong Woman Transgressing Morality? Playing with Different Selves during Thingyan Reflections on Pursuing Morality as a Young Woman 'Coming Of Age' CHAPTER FIVE CULTIVATING MORALITY IN AN AGE OF DECLINE Hpu Takit's Plong Nationality Village Hpu Takit: The Embodiment of a Charismatic Moral Authority The Revitalisation of a Plong Buddhist Universe Cultivating Morality within the Constraints of the Life Course Reflections on Cultivating Morality in an Age Of Decline CHAPTER SIX DEFENDING MORAL COMMUNITY: BUDDHIST NATIONALISM AND PLONG MORAL IDENTITY Plong Buddhist Morality and its Other Violence in the Name of Protecting the Sasana Reflections on Defending Moral Community CHAPTER SEVEN PURSUING MORALITY IN THE MIDST OF A CRISIS Research Among Plong Buddhists and its Significance BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEXReviews"""People living in a Buddhist society such as Myanmar confront conflicting moral injunctions. As Justine Chambers demonstrates in her vivid and valuable addition to the small number of recent ethnographic accounts of the country, life in a conflict-torn region of a troubled nation generates endless moral ambiguity, with contradictory, messy, and fascinating consequences."" – Ward Keeler, University of Texas at Austin ""Justine Chambers' insightful study of the ways in which Plong Buddhists 'pursue' morality sensitively captures the complexities, tensions and consistencies of living a moral life in community with others. Her attention to diverse Plong perspectives also illuminates our understanding of broader dynamics of civil conflict and Buddhist nationalism in Myanmar."" – Matthew Walton, University of Toronto" Author InformationJustine Chambers is a sociocultural anthropologist whose research focuses on ethnonational conflict, morality, violence, and everyday life in southeast Myanmar. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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