CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2016
| Author | Lwin, Htet Min |
|---|---|
| Title | Politicized Religion as Social Movement in a Nascent Democracy: The MaBaTha Movement in Myanmar |
| Summary | With the country’s democratic transition, monks in Myanmar started a religious nationalist movement. The aim of the movement is to protect race and religion. The movement succeeded in passing four sets of laws which are largely criticized for its violation of human rights and targeting the country’s minority Muslims. Throughout the trajectory of the movement, this study reveals how the movement was initiated, how it reached the stage of a country-wide network, how it managed to influence politics and to promulgate four sets of laws. I argue that political opportunities are perceived by the monks. Monks, having wide networks as scholars, preachers and influential figures–both in religious and social arenas, play the role of connective structures to enlarge the movement. The interaction with the opposition resulted in the movement relying upon the government of the day to push forward the agenda further to be able to make the four laws. I explain this phenomenon within a) social and historical pretext, b) political opportunities and c) the government’s inclination to use religion to reach their political ends. I argue that the MaBaTha movement–in trying to recruit new members and to sustain the movement–used the frame that the movement’s aims, goals and activities were in accord with the broader teachings of the Buddha, or in other words, in accord with Dhamma. While this movement easily got momentum and reached this point, I argue that counter-discourses were appearing. Nonetheless, the role of religion and Buddhist monks in politics will persist, and the four laws are currently in effect. Keywords: politicized religion, religious nationalism, framing, Buddhist monks, the MaBaTha movement, myo-zaunt laws, anti-Muslim sentiments |
| Supervisor | Fumagalli, Matteo |
| Department | Political Science MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2016/lwin_htet.pdf |
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