Organizer: Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Northern Illinois University
Type/Location: Hybrid / DeKalb, IL
Description:
In the aftermath of Thailand's 2014 coup, multiple groups mobilized to claim the role of Buddhist protection, revealing fundamental disagreements about who holds legitimate authority to safeguard the religion. The military junta established a religious reform committee while monastic elites advocated for greater state patronage and autonomy, yet the state simultaneously sought to contain monastic power. In this talk, I examine how competing actors have reframed the classical two wheels model of Buddhist kingship, the symbiotic relationship between monarchy and sangha, through contemporary discourses of patronage, purity, and protection. Beyond this traditional dyad, lay Buddhist reformists have emerged as a third wheel, asserting their own claims to protect Buddhism. These groups differ markedly in their motivations, interests, and approaches, transforming what protection means and how it should proceed. The 2020 emergence of monastic youth as a fourth actor, demanding for monastic justice while demanding both monastic and political reform, further complicates questions of religious authority and political legitimacy. By tracing this development from two wheels to contemporary contestation, I introduce the politics of Buddhist protection as a contested domain where religious discourse becomes a vehicle for political participation, revealing how claims to safeguard Buddhism serve as claims to political power itself.
This event is sponsored by NIU’s Department of Anthropology, the Thai Teaching and Research Fund, and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies.
About the Speaker:
Prakirati Satasut (ประกีรติ สัตสุต) is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Thammasat University. He received his B.A. in Economics from Bard College, M.A. in Political Economy from Chulalongkorn University, and Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2019. His dissertation is on monastic activism and state-sangha relations in post-coup Thailand, and his current research focuses on the intersection between law, politics and Buddhism. During his time at the Harvard-Yenching Institute, he will conduct research on Buddhist protectionism in Thailand, particularly its historical development and contemporary expressions.
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