How to Behave
Buddhism and Modernity in Colonial Cambodia, 1860–1930
University of Hawaii Press
This ambitious cross-disciplinary study of Buddhist modernism in colonial Cambodia breaks new ground in understanding the history and development of religion and colonialism in Southeast Asia.
It has become increasingly clear that the rational and ethical religion called Buddhism is as much a product of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as it is of the time of the Buddha, more than two millennia ago. What remain to be determined are the specific ways in which this Buddhism was produced within and among the cultures of Asia. In this fascinating study, Anne Hansen examines the case of Cambodia, combining extensive research with insightful analysis to both contextualize and complicate the category of modern Buddhism.
A remarkable characteristic of this book is the deftness with which the author moves between the intellectual currents of Buddhist studies and Southeast Asian history, drawing analyses of textual practice, regionalism, nation-building, and colonial experience into fruitful conversation.
