Benjamin
Schonthal, University of Otago, published Buddhism,
Politics and the Limits of Law: The Pyrrhic Constitutionalism of Sri Lanka with
Cambridge University Press in 2016. The book takes a historical approach in Part I, especially. From the publisher:
It is widely assumed that a well-designed and well-implemented constitution can help ensure religious harmony in modern states. Yet how correct is this assumption? Drawing on groundbreaking research from Sri Lanka, this book argues persuasively for another possibility: when it comes to religion, relying on constitutional law may not be helpful, but harmful; constitutional practice may give way to pyrrhic constitutionalism. Written in a lucid and direct style, and aimed at both specialists and non-specialists, Buddhism, Politics and the Limits of Law explains why constitutional law has deepened, rather than diminished, conflicts over religion in Sri Lanka. Examining the roles of Buddhist monks, civil society groups, political coalitions and more, the book provides the first extended study of the legal regulation of religion in Sri Lanka as well as the first book-length analysis of the intersections of Buddhism and contemporary constitutional law.
The book provides the first detailed history of the legal regulation of religion in late and postcolonial Sri Lanka, which will be of interest to scholars of religious and legal history in South Asia. It draws upon previously unexamined sources and original ethnography in Sinhala, Tamil and English, offering new data and insights into Sri Lanka's political, legal and religious history.
A review:
"There
is nothing the study of law and religion needs more than deeply informed
political and religious histories of postcolonial states and societies. This is
exactly what this book offers. In an exhaustively researched legal ethnography
of the treatment of religion in Sri Lankan constitutionalism, Benjamin
Schonthal explores how Sri Lankans have wrestled with the tensions generated by
a legal order that guarantees religious rights while also granting to the
majority religion of Buddhism its 'rightful place'. Is it possible for the
state to protect a tradition without interfering in it? Who speaks for Buddhism
in these debates? This sobering story of the limits of law is a must-read for
scholars of religion and politics, Buddhist studies, and comparative
constitutional law." -Elizabeth
Shakman Hurd
TOC after the break.
Contents:
1.
Introduction: religion, law and the pyrrhic constitutionalism of Sri Lanka
Part I. The
Past Lives of the Buddhism Chapter:
2. Managing
religion at the end of empire
3.
Contesting constitutions in the 1950s and 1960s
4.
Multivalent solutions: drafting the Buddhism chapter
Part II.
From Creation to Implementation:
5. Legal
battles for Buddhism
6. Battles
within Buddhism
7.
Constitutional conversions
8.
Conclusion: the costs of constitutional law
Further
information is available here.
