Table of Contents

Introduction: Balancing Sangha Economies, Saskia Abrahms-Kavunenko, Christoph Brumann and Beata Switek
Part I: Reciprocity, Money and Trust
1. Economic Agency and the Spirit of Donation: The Commercialization of Buddhist Services in Japan, Beata Switek (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)
2. Merit, “Corruption,” and Economy in the Contemporary Thai Sangha, Thomas Borchert (University of Vermont, USA)
3. Ritual Virtuosity, Large-Scale Priest-Patron Networks and the Ethics of Remunerated Ritual Services in
Northeast Tibet, Nicolas Sihlé (Centre d'Etudes Himalayennes, CNRS, France)
4. 'Bad' Monks and Unworthy Donors: Money, (Mis)Trust and the Disruption of Sangha-Laity Relations in Shangri-La, Hannah Rosa Klepeis (Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle, Germany)
Part II: Beyond Reciprocity
5. Donations Inversed: Material Flows from Sangha to Laity in Post-Soviet Buryatia, Kristina Jonutyte (University of Vilnius, Lithuania)
6. Exorcising Mauss’ Ghost in the Western Himalayas: Buddhist Giving as Collective Work, Martin Mills (University of Aberdeen, UK)
Part III: Managing Temples and Monasteries
7. Monks and the Morality of Exchange: Reflections on a Village Temple Case in Southwest China, Roger Casas (Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria)
8. Wealthy Mendicants: The Balancing Act of Sri Lankan Forest Monks, Prabhath Sirisena (University of Colombo, Sri Lanka)
9. Monastic Business Expansion in Post-Mao Tibet: Risk, Trust and Perception, Jane Caple (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)
Part IV: Capitalism, Decline and Rebirth
10. Regeneration and the Age of Decline: Purification and Rebirth in Mongolian Buddhist Economies, Saskia Abrahms-Kavunenko (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)
11. Saintly Entrepreneurialism and Political Aspirations of Theravadin Saints in Mainland Southeast Asia, Alexander Horstmann (University of Tallinn, Estonia)
Bibliography
Index

Promotional Information

Explores the economic and financial aspects, debates and dilemmas of Buddhist temples and practitioners in contemporary Asia, dispelling the popular romantic notion of Buddhist monks.

About the Author

Christoph Brumann is Head of Research Group at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle, and Honorary Professor of Anthropology at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany.
Saskia Abrahms-Kavunenko is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Beata Switek is Assistant Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Reviews

Monks, Money, and Morality provides intimate cases studies from around the Buddhist world to show the complex consideration of money and ethics that monks must negotiate for their temples to survive. It offers insights into the way in which national politics and economics affect the practicalities of those seeking to pursue a monastic life. This eye-opening study will change perceptions of Buddhism and understandings of the role of monks in their communities.
*Kate Crosby, Professor of Buddhist Studies, King’s College London, UK*

At the heart of Buddhism stands the relationship between monastics and laypeople. These diverse and fascinating case studies, with their sophisticated ethnographic analyses, demonstrate that what is often thought of as an asymmetrical and hierarchical symbiosis is, in actually existing Buddhism, far more complex, far more variable, and far more interesting than that.
*David N. Gellner, Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Oxford, UK*

The book is very much about the dilemmas that a religious tradition faces when it comes to issues of money, exchange and incorporation into the capitalist economy ... a very rich collection of studies.
*Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology*