Acknowledgments; Commonly used abbreviations; A note on translation and language; 1. Introduction: religion, law and the pyrrhic constitutionalism of Sri Lanka; Part I. The Past Lives of the Buddhism Chapter: 2. Managing religion at the end of empire; 3. Contesting constitutions in the 1950s and 1960s; 4. Multivalent solutions: drafting the Buddhism chapter; Part II. From Creation to Implementation: 5. Legal battles for Buddhism; 6. Battles within Buddhism; 7. Constitutional conversions; 8. Conclusion: the costs of constitutional law; References; Index.
Examining Sri Lanka's religious and legal pasts, this is the first extended study of Buddhism and constitutional law.
Benjamin Schonthal is Senior Lecturer in Buddhism and Asian Religions at the University of Otago, New Zealand. He received his Ph.D. in the field of history of religions at the University of Chicago. His research examines the intersection of religion, law and politics in South and Southeast Asia, with a particular focus on Buddhism.
'There is nothing the study of law and religion needs more than
deeply informed political and religious histories of postcolonial
states and societies. This is exactly what this book offers. In an
exhaustively researched legal ethnography of the treatment of
religion in Sri Lankan constitutionalism, Benjamin Schonthal
explores how Sri Lankans have wrestled with the tensions generated
by a legal order that guarantees religious rights while also
granting to the majority religion of Buddhism its 'rightful place'.
Is it possible for the state to protect a tradition without
interfering in it? Who speaks for Buddhism in these debates? This
sobering story of the limits of law is a must-read for scholars of
religion and politics, Buddhist studies, and comparative
constitutional law.' Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, Northwestern
University, Illinois
'Based on field observation, interviews, and a host of multilingual
documents that include court records, parliamentary debates, and
media reports, this work is a rich and vivid contribution to the
study of religion, law, and politics in Sri Lanka. Meticulous in
its detail, and strikingly imaginative in its conception, the work
shows how the top-down constitutionalist attempt to negotiate an
inequality of religions alongside an equality of citizens has led
to the accomplishment of neither, and, even worse, the stimulation
of the very conflicts and disharmonies the constitutionalist effort
was meant to adjudicate and resolve in the first place. The work
also yields fresh perspectives on the idea of 'the Buddhist State',
a concept that has a long history and ongoing importance,
particularly today, in South and Southeast Asia.' H. L.
Seneviratne, Professor Emeritus, University of Virginia and author
of The Work of Kings: The New Buddhism in Sri Lanka
'Constitutions are supposed to resolve social and political
cleavages, but can also exacerbate them. In this wonderfully rich
and original study of Sri Lanka, Schonthal exposes how
constitutional language provides new fuel for political conflict
over religion, providing a cautionary tale. A great theoretical and
empirical contribution to the literature on comparative
constitutional law.' Tom Ginsburg, Leo Spitz Professor of
International Law and Professor of Political Science, University of
Chicago
'All in all, this is a book that stands as an exemplar of how a
dedicated scholar trained in relevant languages and working across
disciplines on a single country case study can produce
methodologically and conceptually significant research. And it is a
book that challenges socio-legal researchers seeking to contest
rather than simply affirm the received wisdom on the religious
politics of comparative constitutional law to take more seriously
those places, like Sri Lanka, and traditions, like Buddhism, that
are usually relegated to the literature's margins. With Buddhism,
Politics, and the Limits of Law, at least, Sri Lanka's experiences
with pyrrhic constitutionalism shall now not be left out of the
conversation.' Nick Cheesman, Law and Society Review
'Schonthal's account is meticulously researched and filled with
fascinating details. Reading his historical account of the
constitutional discourse culminating in the Buddhism chapter, one
gets a unique glimpse into the personalities and ideologies that
shape constitutional change in Sri Lanka.' Jaclyn L. Neo, ICON
'Anyone interested in how Constitutions manage religion should read
this book. In addition, scholars who find themselves surrounded by
an unwavering faith in the Constitution will have their assumptions
about the inherent goodness of constitutional law shaken. The
arguments in this book have long-lasting and broad implications for
the way in which we think about and study law and religion.
Schonthal's book has resonance not only for contemporary debates in
other Buddhist majority countries that constitutionally recognize
Buddhism, such as Myanmar and Thailand, but also for broader
debates over the relationship between religion and constitutional
law.' Melissa Crouch, Asian Journal of Law and Society
'It is an impressive volume - eminently readable, compellingly
narrated, and creatively written.' Chad M. Bauman, Commonwealth &
Comparative Politics
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