[Discussion] Religious Commodifications in Asia: Enchantment of Globalising World

[Sule Tarakcioglu]

	*Religious Commodifications in Asia: Enchantment of Globalising World*
*Location:* 	Singapore
<http://www.h-net.org/announce/geography.cgi?geography=Singapore>
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Workshop on Religious Commodifications in Asia: Enchantment of
Globalising World

24-25 November 2005, Singapore

organised by
Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore

Religious commodification or the intersection between certain religious
traditions and market economy is nothing new, nor of recent origin. It
has long been a notable phenomenon which students of religions have
observed worldwide. Some classical theorists argue that with the rise of
modern capitalism and more rationalized organization of social life,
religious influences should be in decline. However, studies by
contemporary sociologists and anthropologists in the past few decades
have indicated otherwise. Traditional as well as newly-emerged religious
practices have not only survived the on-slaughters of market economy,
but also been able to produce and reproduced some meaningful forms and
messages of rituals and beliefs to modern and postmodern life.

Taking experiences of East and Southeast Asian countries, one could
argue that wherever capitalism grows as modes of modern production and
consumption, religion also flourishes. The rapid industrialization in
post-Second World War Japan gave birth to phenomenal new religious
movements, where everyday life frustration and tension were met with
promises religious messiahs and magical practices. In newly
industrialized countries like Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea, the
revivals of traditional as well as new religious practices are also
intensively reported, especially in 1980s and 1990s.

Considering rapid socioeconomic and cultural changes in the region in
the past few decades, it is imperative to investigate and compare forms,
processes, tensions, and implications of religious commoditizations
across Asian major religious traditions, i.e., Chinese religious
traditions, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam.

This workshop aims to explore complex and diverse intersections between
religious practices and global capitalist forces in the Asian contexts.
It plans to bring together international scholars working on Asian
religions to discuss and explore the "big picture" of religious
commoditization in this region. How have "world-historic religions"
(e.g., Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam) and other living
religious traditions (e.g., Chinese and other indigenous spirit cults)
adjusted themselves to cope with the onslaughts of late capitalist,
market-oriented economy? To what extent has transnational capitalism in
various forms and at different levels altered and reshaped the Asian
religious landscapes? What has the global capitalism done to Asian
religious traditions? What are social processes and contexts leading to
the emergence of 'prosperity religions'? What are responses from local
and transnational religious communities to the evasive intrusion of
commoditization? What are emerging voices, identities, or other
complications out of a selection of prosperity religions in Asia? How do
traditional religious traditions as well as premodern magic and
superstition persist and survive the onslaught of modernization and
globalization forces?

The workshop intends to revisit and reexamine the influential roles of
religious traditions and their convergences with complex mundane forces
in contemporary Southeast Asian, where rapid economic growth and radical
sociocultural transformations have manifested in the past few decades.
In his ground-breaking edited volume, "Religions and the Transformations
of Capitalism: Comparative Approaches," Richard Roberts (1995:2) argues
that since the collapse of the Soviet bloc and the arrival of forceful
transnational market economy, "...there is a mutual and dynamic relation
between religions and economic processes..." These processes have given
birth to what he calls "prosperity religion," which Jackson (1999:246)
defines in the context of Thai popular religion as "popular movements
that emphasize wealth acquisition as much as salvation." It tends to
link "...an array of spiritually significant meanings to the prevailing
consumerism of the period" (Ibid.).

The workshop's key objectives are outlined as follows:

    * To address Southeast Asia's prosperity religions and religious
      commoditization from cross-disciplinary perspectives;
    * To explore some possible post-Durkheimian, post-Weberian
      sociological and some other up-to-date theoretical explanations to
      the religious convergences as social processes in Southeast Asia's
      diverse contexts;
    * To discuss some effective research methodologies in understanding
      the region's changing religious landscapes;

TOPICS

The workshop intends to explore a wide range of prosperity religion and
commodifications as practiced within Southeast Asia's diverse and rich
religious traditions. Following topics are encouraged for the paper
presentation and discussion during the workshop.

    * The commercialization of Buddhism and its implications
    * Islam and its responses to the world market economy
    * Christianity and the marketized faiths
    * On the subject of Chinese vegetarian festivals
    * Cases of other emerging prosperity religions and cults
    * Religious celebrities
    * Religious publications and publishing business
    * Religious fetish objects and goods
    * Religious aspects of lottery and other forms of gambling
    * Amulet industry and its networks on the cyber space

THEME FOR KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Religious commoditizations in the late global capitalist junctures;
Rethinking the intersection between the religious and the market forces
and its implications: some theoretical and empirical considerations

CALL FOR PAPERS

Paper proposals including 250-word abstracts and 5-line biography should
be sent to Ms. Valerie Yeo at the e-mail address provided below by *31
May 2005*.
Those selected will be urged to send in a completed paper by 15
September 2005.
Some funding will be available for those in the Southeast Asian region,
post-graduate students, and others unable to fund themselves. It is
hoped that the workshop will lead to a key publication in the field of
comparative Southeast Religion.

For enquiries, please contact:

Organising Committee:
Bryan Turner (aribst@nus.edu.sg)
Vineeta Sinha (socvs@nus.edu.sg)
Pattana Kitiarsa (aripk@nus.edu.sg)

Secretariat: Ms Valerie Yeo (contact information provided below).

References Cited
Jackson, Peter A. "Royal Spirits, Chinese Gods, and Magic Monks:
Thailand's Boom-Time Religions of Prosperity." South East Asia Research.
7, 3 (November 1999):245-320.

Roberts, Richard H., ed. Religion and the Transformations of Capitalism:
Comparative Apporaches. London: Routledge, 1995.

	Ms Valerie Yeo
Asia Research Institute
National University of Singapore
AS7, Level 4, 5 Arts Link
Tel: 65 6874 5279
Fax: 65 6779 1428

Email: ariyeov@nus.edu.sg <mailto:ariyeov@nus.edu.sg>
Visit the website at http://www.ari.nus.edu.sg/conf2005/commodification.htm