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Setting an Agenda for the Socio-Legal Study of Contemporary Buddhism∙

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2016

Benjamin SCHONTHAL  and
Tom GINSBURG
Benjamin SCHONTHAL
Affiliation:
Buddhism/Asian Religions, University of Otago
Tom GINSBURG
Affiliation:
University of Chicago Law School
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Abstract

This introduction to the special issue on Buddhism and law lays out an agenda for the socio-legal study of contemporary Buddhism. We identify lacunae in the current literature and call for further work on four themes: the relations between monastic legal practice and state law; the formations of Buddhist constitutionalism; Buddhist legal activism and Buddhist-interest litigation; and Buddhist moral critiques of law. We argue that this agenda is important for advancing Buddhist studies and for the comparative study of law and legal institutions.

Keywords

Buddhismconstitutionalismlaw and societylitigation
Type
Buddhism and Law
Information
Asian Journal of Law and Society , Volume 3 , Issue 1 , May 2016 , pp. 1 - 15
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press and KoGuan Law School, Shanghai Jiao Tong University 

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Footnotes

∙

The authors are grateful to Christian Lammerts, Michael Radich, and the anonymous reviewers for their suggestions. Thanks to Margaret O’Connor for research assistance.

*

Senior Lecturer in Buddhism/Asian Religions, University of Otago.

**

Leo Spitz Professor of International Law, University of Chicago Law School; Research Professor, American Bar Foundation. Correspondence to Tom Ginsburg, 1111 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637, US. E-mail address: tginsburg@uchicago.edu.

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