Leading scholars working on Buddhism and politics in South and Southeast Asia add to current discussions regarding 'Engaged Buddhism' and the recent work on protests. The writers have mostly established themselves in their fields, offering a diverse approach and country-by-country coverage.

Introduction: 'Buddhist Politics' as Emptiness: History and the Forms of Engagement in Asia; Pattana Kitiarsa and John Whalen-Bridge PART I: DEPENDENT ORIGINATIONS AND CHANGING DESTINATIONS 1. Buddhists Confront the State; Charles F. Keyes 2. 'Foremost among Religions': Theravada Buddhism's Affairs with the Modern Sri Lankan State; Mahinda Deegalle 3. Schools, Ritual Economies and the Expanding State: The Changing Roles of Lao Buddhist Monks as 'Traditional Intellectuals'; Patrice Ladwig PART II: THE POLITICAL ROLE OF SACRED THINGS 4. After Pol Pot: Cambodia and the Building of a New Stupa; John Amos Marston 5. The Relic and the Rule of Righteousness: Reflections on U Nu's Dhammavijaya; Tilman Frasch 6. Sacred Site or Public Space? The Shwedagon Pagoda in Colonial Rangoon; Donald Seekins PART III: MONKS, NUNS, AND...TREES 7. Angry Monk Syndrome on the World Stage: Tibet, Engaged Buddhism, and the Weapons of the Weak; John Whalen-Bridge 8. Rebirth Control: Contemporary Inner Mongolian Buddhism and the Religious Authority of the Chinese State; Jonathan Mair 9. Do Buddhist 'Nuns' Need the Thai Sangha?; Monica Lindberg Falk 10. Sacred Protests and Buddhist Environmental Knowledge; Susan M. Darlington Index