Communication Strategies within Asian Religious Movements

Session Submission Type: Organized Panel Proposal Application

Abstract

Asian-based religious movements often argue that their traditions can make important contributions toward solving individual and societal problems of the modern world. Asian religious leaders seek to disseminate their central values and concerns to diverse communities in direct but complex ways. These leaders must address contemporary issues in ways that draw on traditional and modern concepts, international and national concerns, and often utilize both secular and religious discourses, verbally and non-verbally. In the course of doing so, a key challenge they face is appealing broadly to diverse audiences while not diluting the spiritual and cultural aspects of their religious message. This panel is interested in what mediums of communication organizations and their religious leaders use to engage with both global and local audiences. These means include, but are not limited to, uses of technology, framing, preaching, activities, and sub-organizational groups. To this end we seek to dissect modern Asian religious leaders’ communication approaches to multiple audiences through asking the following questions: 1) How do religious leaders communicate their organization’s central concerns and ethical values to their members and to diverse societies? 2) What strategies are used to articulate these concerns/issues? 3) How do these strategies impact the formation of religious identities? 4) In what ways and through what activities are members organized and encouraged to identify with the movement? Successful proposals will address some of the above questions as it pertains to an Asian religious movement, within or outside the Asian continent.

Area of Study

• Interarea-Border Crossing-Diaspora

Session Organizer

• Brooke Schedneck, Institute of Southeast Asian Affairs

Chair

• Seth Clippard, Hung Kuang University

Individual Presentations

• Staking a Claim to the Future: Buddhism, Environmentalism, and Communication - Seth Clippard, Hung Kuang University

• The Mixed Metaphors of Religious Modernity: Charity and Lingxiao She in Shaoxing Prefecture, Zhejiang Province (1920s-1940s) - Ye Cao, The University of Hong Kong

• Guru’s communication in contemporary India, between preaching and Whatsapp groups - Daniela Bevilacqua, University of Rome Sapienza

Discussant

• Brooke Schedneck, Institute of Southeast Asian Affairs