All three countries are known as having Theravada Buddhist majorities. Theravada Buddhism is essential for the construction of cultural and national identity in these countries and the authority of Buddhist monks is uncontested. The course offers an introduction to the debate on the political role of Buddhism, Buddhist institutions and Buddhist monks in politics and a discussion of the revitalization of Buddhist political thought and Buddhist nationalism in a context of globalization and secularism. This course offers insights into the political ideas and political philosophy of Buddhist monks and nuns, the relationship of Buddhism to state and to democracy, the perspective of Buddhist majorities on religious minorities, and the place of Buddhism in the economy and in the marketplace.

This course aims at MA students of Languages and Cultures of Southeast Asia with the track Thai Studies.

Suitable for MA students of Buddhist Studies with the track Thai Studies. Open for BA students as a course of the "Fachspezifischer Wahlbereich".