Did European imperialism invent Asian religion? Casting Faiths brings together eleven scholars to show how Western law, governance, education and mission in East and Southeast Asia shaped the basic understanding of what religion is, and what role it should play in society. But as these essays show, Western ideas were not always imposed at gunpoint. In places like Burma or Indonesia, many of these changes were initiated by European imperialism. Yet they also reached places like China, which was never colonized, and Japan, which had an empire of its own. And decades after the empires were dismantled, we can still see their effects in Asian societies today.
- ISBN10 023023545X
- ISBN13 9780230235458
- Publish Date 31 March 2009 (first published 1 January 2009)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Palgrave Macmillan
- Format eBook
- Pages 288
- Language English