Merit-Making Activities and the Latent Ideal of the Buddhist in Southwestern Cambodia
The divergent experiences surrounding merit-making acts represent the distinct backgrounds of individuals and communities that have emerged in postwar Cambodia. This article examines merit-making activities in two Buddhist temples in southwestern Cambodia and the influence of political patronage on...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publishing
2014-08-01
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| Series: | Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/186810341403300202 |
| Summary: | The divergent experiences surrounding merit-making acts represent the distinct backgrounds of individuals and communities that have emerged in postwar Cambodia. This article examines merit-making activities in two Buddhist temples in southwestern Cambodia and the influence of political patronage on temple–community relationships. This influence elicits images of a latent ideal of the Buddhist monastery that are used by local communities to form a social critique both of such political involvement within temples and of the destabilising effect it has on local people's merit-making activities. This ideal also reflected the political economies and social networks created within the temples that comprised two different models of patronage and means of accessing resources. |
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| ISSN: | 1868-1034 1868-4882 |