Buddhist Responses to Globalization

This interdisciplinary collection of essays highlights the relevance of Buddhist doctrine and practice to issues of globalization. From various philosophical, religious, historical, and political perspectives, the authors show that Buddhism-arguably the world's first transnational religion-is a rich resource for navigating today's interconnected world. Buddhist Responses to Globalization addresses globalization as a contemporary phenomenon, marked by economic, cultural, and political deterritorialization, and also proposes concrete strategies for improving global conditions in light of these facts. Topics include Buddhist analyses of both capitalist and materialist economies; Buddhist religious syncretism in highly multicultural areas such as Honolulu; the changing face of Buddhism through the work of public intellectuals such as Alice Walker; and Buddhist responses to a range of issues including reparations and restorative justice, economic inequality, spirituality and political activism, cultural homogenization and nihilism, and feminist critique. In short, the book looks to bring Buddhist ideas and practices into direct and meaningful, yet critical, engagement with both the facts and theories of globalization.

Introduction, James Mark Shields and Leah KalmansonPart I: Globalization as Spatial, Cultural, and Economic Deterritorialization1) Squaring Freedom with Equity: Challenging the Karma of the Globalization of Choice, Peter D. Hershock2) Alice Walker, the Grand Mother, and a Buddhist-Womanist Response to Globalization, Carolyn M. Jones Medine3) Religious Change as Glocalization: The Case of Shin Buddhism in Honolulu, Ugo Dessì4) From Topos to Utopia: Critical Buddhism, Globalization, and Ideology Criticism, James MarkShieldsPart II: Normative Responses to Globalization5) An Inexhaustible Storehouse for an Insurmountable Debt: A Buddhist Reading of Reparations, Leah Kalmanson6) Engaged Buddhism and Liberation Theologies: Fierce Compassion as a Mode of Justice, Melanie L. Harris7) World, Nothing, and Globalization in Nishida and Nancy, John W. M. Krummel8) A Zen Master Meets Contemporary Feminism: Reading Dogen as a Resource for Feminist Philosophy, Erin McCarthy