Much work on contemporary religion in Asia considers the subject from the perspective of the great religions, often focusing on the development of official beliefs, and the development of formal institutions. The books in this series, on the other hand, examine the actual practice of religion in everyday life in modern Asian societies. They reveal a very rich picture of varying religious practices, many of them new and non-traditional. The religions of Asia are undergoing much radical change not only communal religious revivalism, but also an explosion of urban piety, popular preaching, charismatic churches, and on-line religion. The books cover a wide range of subjects in the countries of East, Southeast, South and Central Asia. The series welcomes innovative approaches to theory and methods in the study of religion and religions, and work which considers religion in relation to culture, politics, ethnicity or gender.
Bryan S. Turner has had a long and distinguished career as a leading scholar of religion, having worked previously in various universities in Singapore, The Netherlands, Germany and the United States. He is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the Graduate Center CUNY USA, and is currently Professor of Sociology at the Australian Catholic University, Honorary Professor at Potsdam University Germany, and Honorary Fellow at the Edward Cadbury Centre for the Public Understanding of Religion, University of Birmingham, UK.
By Roberto Rizzo
April 30, 2024
Based on extensive original research, this book explores the history and current revival of Buddhism on the Indonesian island of Java. Beginning by tracing how Buddhism came to Java from India via southeast Asia, it considers how Buddhism has survived and adapted as Islam and Christianity became ...
By Dae Young Ryu
September 25, 2023
This book provides a comprehensive overview of Protestant Christianity in Korea. It outlines the development of Christianity in Korea before Protestantism, considers the introduction of Protestantism in the late nineteenth century and its widening and profound impact, and goes on to discuss the ...
Edited
By Daniela Berti, Anthony Good
July 13, 2023
This book presents original research on the controversies surrounding animal sacrifice in South Asia through the lens of court cases. It focuses on the parties involved in these cases: on their discourses, motivations, and contrasting points of view. Through an examination of judicial files, court ...
By Francis K.G. Lim, Bee Bee Sng
May 31, 2023
How does Christianity continue to experience growth in an increasingly authoritarian political system that enforces strict regulations on religion? How are ordinary Christians affected by social and political changes in the country, and how do they make their influence felt in wider society? Taking...
By Milad Milani
May 31, 2023
This book explores how Sufis approach their faith as Muslims, upholding an Islamic worldview, but going about making sense of their religion through the world in which they exist, often in unexpected ways. Using a phenomenological approach, the book examines Sufism as lived experience within the ...
Edited
By He Ming, David Lewis
August 01, 2022
As China strengthens its links with its neighbours through its Belt and Road initiative, there is growing interest in the indigenous peoples of China’s western and southwestern borderlands. This book, based on extensive original research, considers the indigenous peoples of Yunnan province, which ...
By Milad Milani
December 12, 2019
Sufism is generally perceived as being spiritually focused and about the development of the self. However, Sufi orders have been involved historically as important civic and political actors in the Muslim world, having participated extensively in inter-faith dialogue and political challenges to ...
By Mu Peng
November 20, 2019
This book explores how, unlike in the West, the daily religious life of most Chinese people spreads without institutional propagation. Based upon more than a decade of field research in rural China, the book demonstrates the decisive role of rites of passage and yearly festival rituals held in ...
By Christian Lekon
April 16, 2019
This volume presents a comparison of seven major religious reformers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: For Islam, Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani, Muhammad ‘Abduh and Muhammad Rashid Rida; for Hinduism, Dayananda Sarasvati and Swami Shraddhananda; for Confucianism, K’ang Yu-wei and ...
By Chen Hon-Fai
January 03, 2019
Catholicism has had an important place in Macau since the earliest days of Portuguese colonization in the sixteenth century. This book, based on extensive original research including in-depth interviews, examines in detail the everyday life of Catholics in Macau at present. It outlines the ...
By Liang Yongjia
May 16, 2018
This book is based on anthropological fieldwork among the Bai, an ethnic minority with a population of two million in Dali, southwest China. It explores the religious and ethnic revival in the last two decades against a historical background. It explains why and how religions and ethnic identity ...
By Sam Han, Kamaludeen Mohamed Nasir
January 12, 2018
This book critically analyses the functions and interconnectedness between religion and digital media in a range of East Asian countries. It discusses both how religious organizations make use of new technologies, and also explores how new technologies are reshaping religion in novel and ...