Buddhist Philanthropy outside the PRC since 1949 and its Cross-Strait Implications
25 November 2019
Lecture Series: Comparative Studies on Buddhism in Taiwan and Mainland China
Buddhist Philanthropy outside the PRC since 1949 and its Cross-Strait Implications
Monday, 25th November 2019, 18.15-19.45
Universität Hamburg, Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1, Room 121 ESA Ost (East Wing)
The lecture gives examples of continued provision of social services by Buddhist institutions in the territory remaining under the control of the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan after 1949 and in other Chinese societies such as Hong Kong, Singapore, and Macau, as well as in Chinese communities throughout Southeast Asia since the second half of the twentieth century. Despite the significant differences in the welfare regimes of these societies, at different levels of development and with varied degree of state intervention in social security and assistance, they share similarities in their respective approach to the role they grant to non-state actors and religious organizations in particular, in assisting the state in the provision of social services. Based on these historical developments, the lecture further considers similarities and differences regarding the former and the present status of Buddhist philanthropy in China. More than in the past, the possibilities of Buddhist philanthropy in societies with so many different conditions point to the wide range of condition making that possible in China as well.
André Laliberté is Professor in comparative politics at the School of Political, University of Ottawa. In 2019, he is Fellow of the Kolleg-Forschungsgruppe "Multiple Secularities – Beyond the West, Beyond Modernities", Leipzig Universität. He is also Co-Director of the Chair in Taiwan Studies at the University of Ottawa. He has written The Politics of Buddhist Organizations in Taiwan, 1949-2003, and in 2019, has co-edited with Ji Zhe and Gareth Fisher, Buddhism after Mao, and with Stefania Travagnin, Concepts and Methods for the Study of Chinese Religions I. He is now working on a manuscript on Buddhist philanthropy and the politics of social assistance in Chinese societies.
A flyer of the event may be downloaded here.