Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: This article addresses the introduction of Buddhism to southern Africa in recent decades as part of the growing Chinese infrastructure on the continent. Based upon over thirty months of in-depth ethnographic research conducted at a Buddhist NGO in Central Namibia between 2021 and 2024, this arti- cle argues that, rather than serving as a source of spiritual inspiration and fulfilment, Buddhism in this context has become a form of (Chinese) infra- structure that enables and disables specific ways of acting, speaking and living among the Namibians who work at the NGO. It shows how Buddhism as a form of infrastructure slowly, subtly, yet surely becomes moored in the daily lives of the local people.
Author: Yasmin Cho
Institution: University of Copenhagen
Language: English
Topic: Indian and Buddhist Studies
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4405774071