Friday Forum Lecture/Keynote Speech for Theravada Civilizations Workshop: Juliane Schober

This presentation looks at recent Buddhist sentiments and movements that respond to uncertainties about the future and anxieties about who belongs to a new Myanmar. Buddhist practices and institutions in contemporary Myanmar are under duress in multiple contexts ranging from widespread social reforms, the rise of extreme Buddhist nationalist discourse, violence communal conflict directed against Muslims and Rohingya communities and the threat of a return to military rule. The combined impact of these developments underscores the urgent need for Buddhist communities to find new forms of being relevant in contemporary society.