Matthew Moore on Buddhism and Political Theory

tonygill — Sun, 29 May 2016 08:00:52 +0000

Does Buddhism have a political theory embedded in it? And if so, how does it compare with Western notion of politics and citizenship. Prof. Matthew Moore, an associate professor of political science at Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo, discusses his recent book Buddhism and Political Theory (Oxford University Press). Dr. Moore recounts how he fortuitously became interested in studying Buddhism via meditation, and how this prompted him to engage in one of the few works that explores the political philosophy contained in this Eastern religion. Matt notes that there are three key essential points that serve as the foundation for a Buddhist theory of politics: 1) there is no notion of “the self”; 2) normative beliefs provide practical guidance and not obligatory commands; and 3) politics is of limited importance in human life. We examine the first tenant, interestingly enough, in relation to the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, and then move on to explore the historical development of Buddhist thought on politics, with an eye towards how monarchs should rule properly. Matt notes that there is not a great deal of writing about politics within Buddhism. Our discussion then turns towards the issue of “limited citizenship,” a topic that many political science undergraduate students would find surprising given the emphasis Western democracies place on political engagement. Here, Prof. Moore points out four critical aspects of Buddhist thought that outline the role of average citizens in the polity: 1) politics is inevitable (and can be beneficial); 2) politics is sufficiently moral to require normative theories; 3) politics is relatively unimportant (in the grand scheme of things); and 4) politics has little power over people when it comes to the important things in life. Matt likens this philosophy to the thought of Henry David Thoreau, John Howard Yoder, and a number of Christian pacifists who argue that setting a permanent counter-example to the rough-and-tumble world of politics is the duty of the moral individual. We finish off with some thoughts on where Buddhist political thought is heading and, of all things, talk about whether or not robots would meditate. Recorded: May 13, 2016.

Matthew Isaacs on Religion & Ethnic Rebellion

tonygill — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 08:00:20 +0000

When does religion play a role in ethnic rebellion and when does it remain irrelevant? Matthew Isaacs, a PhD candidate in political science at Brandeis University, adopts an economic model of religion to explain that when denominations are in competition with one another, and when they are facing declining resources, religious rhetoric will be used more frequently in mobilizing groups involved in ethnic turbulence.

Our conversation begins with a discussion of how he came upon his dissertation topic and the general literature in ethnic conflict. That topic has been of increasing interest to political scientists and Matt notes how he was able to plug in his interest in the “religious economies” perspective to help provide a further understanding of when religion becomes a salient dimension in such conflict. He notes that while it might seem obvious that religion and ethnic conflict would always be linked, and some studies have noticed a connection, there are plenty of instances — often in the same conflict — where religious rhetoric is not used to mobilize combatants and other forms of support. Matt notes that since much of the recent literature on ethnic struggles is rooted in a more rationalist perspective, the use of this theoretical perspective was pretty intuitive.

We then discuss his broad-based analysis of ethnic conflict from 1970 – 2014, a period chosen primarily for data availability. Without getting thick into the statistical details, he briefly mentions how he measured his different variables and how the analysis he ran demonstrated a very strong relationship between religious competition and use of religious rhetoric in conflict, as well as the importance of having a relatively more open political opportunity structure (i.e., a place where rebellious rhetoric is more free to express itself). Attention then turns to his qualitative analysis of two seemingly disparate cases — Northern Ireland during “The Troubles” and the recent Sri Lankan civil war. While seemingly very different cases, both involved religious rhetoric being used on one side of the conflict, but not on the other.

Matthew walks us through both of his case studies beginning with Northern Ireland. Here the story drives us back to the post-WWII era where a bombed out Belfast sent populations scrambling to rebuild in suburbs and leaving churches bereft of resources stranded in the city. Competition to head out to the suburbs intensified quickly among Protestants and created a very dynamic religious market. Catholics didn’t exit their faith as much thus that particular niche market did not face much competition. Interestingly, and in conformance with Matt’s thesis, religious rhetoric was more commonly used to rally Protestants to the Unionist cause (the group that favored union with Great Britain, which ironically meant separation from Ireland). Matt similarly traces the religious roots of ethnic conflict back prior to the actual fighting in the Sri Lankan civil war. Colonialism played a large role in Sri Lankan history and when the British left the island in 1948 a number of grievances about funding Buddhist temples arose that created competition amongst various monks. Over time, this translated into a factionalization in the faith that had a number of monks and political actors vying for support by tying themselves to the ethnic conflict with the Tamils. He traces this type of competition to a number of electoral cycles in the 1950s and 1970s and how it eventually manifested itself in violent hostilities in the 1980s.

Matt finished off with some self-reflection about the things he has learned in his current research. Note that because Matt was using a cell phone there are a few spots in the recording that sound a bit off due to the audio compression. The problems are mostly in the first 15 minutes of the interview. Recorded: May 26, 2015.

Research On Religion » Sri Lanka

Matthew Moore on Buddhism and Political Theory

Matthew Isaacs on Religion & Ethnic Rebellion