Keeping Hold of the Jewel: Buddhist Youth Activism and Multidirectional Migration in Mountain Java

The paper investigates the emergence of a youth organisation in rural Central Java and its relevance for the channelling of Buddhist revivalist stances in the Temanggung area. Buddhism was introduced in the Muslim-majority regency in the 1950s through the lens of “revival”. However, in recent dec...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Rizzo, Roberto
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Fondazione Università Ca’ Foscari 2024-12-01
Series:Annali di Ca’ Foscari: Serie Orientale
Subjects:
Online Access:http://doi.org/10.30687/AnnOr/2385-3042/2024/02/008
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849220788911079424
author Rizzo, Roberto
author_facet Rizzo, Roberto
author_sort Rizzo, Roberto
collection DOAJ
description The paper investigates the emergence of a youth organisation in rural Central Java and its relevance for the channelling of Buddhist revivalist stances in the Temanggung area. Buddhism was introduced in the Muslim-majority regency in the 1950s through the lens of “revival”. However, in recent decades, local institutional and noninstitutional Buddhist actors have framed oftentimes the religious demographics as well as attendance to formal religious worship as being in a long-term state of decadence and abandonment, particularly on the side of young residents. Many Buddhists perceive this to be to the advantage of either other formal religious affiliations (Islam, Christianity) or a more generalised trend of indifference towards communal forms of religious engagement. The article follows the formation of the revivalist group, Pemuda Buddhis (the “Buddhist Youth”) in the Temanggung highlands and the social-cultural ramifications that converge in its origination, practices and agenda. Rather than instantiating a linear “return”, the Buddhist revitalisation efforts promoted by the group materialise, in fact, a novel religious scenario, marked by a sharper influence of Theravāda Buddhism and, on the other hand, a mélange of ethnocultural and Javanese-identitarian stances. More specifically, the paper intends to show how the formation of the youth organisation and the on-the-ground activities implemented reflect wider dynamics of internal mobility as well as new economic/entrepreneurial sensibilities.
format Article
id doaj-art-d6aabf6b4c0847d986f9f9c2fcaef4c8
institution Kabale University
issn 2385-3042
language English
publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher Fondazione Università Ca’ Foscari
record_format Article
series Annali di Ca’ Foscari: Serie Orientale
spelling doaj-art-d6aabf6b4c0847d986f9f9c2fcaef4c82024-12-05T08:44:44ZengFondazione Università Ca’ FoscariAnnali di Ca’ Foscari: Serie Orientale2385-30422024-12-0160210.30687/AnnOr/2385-3042/2024/02/008journal_article_16633Keeping Hold of the Jewel: Buddhist Youth Activism and Multidirectional Migration in Mountain JavaRizzo, Roberto0Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Mahidol University The paper investigates the emergence of a youth organisation in rural Central Java and its relevance for the channelling of Buddhist revivalist stances in the Temanggung area. Buddhism was introduced in the Muslim-majority regency in the 1950s through the lens of “revival”. However, in recent decades, local institutional and noninstitutional Buddhist actors have framed oftentimes the religious demographics as well as attendance to formal religious worship as being in a long-term state of decadence and abandonment, particularly on the side of young residents. Many Buddhists perceive this to be to the advantage of either other formal religious affiliations (Islam, Christianity) or a more generalised trend of indifference towards communal forms of religious engagement. The article follows the formation of the revivalist group, Pemuda Buddhis (the “Buddhist Youth”) in the Temanggung highlands and the social-cultural ramifications that converge in its origination, practices and agenda. Rather than instantiating a linear “return”, the Buddhist revitalisation efforts promoted by the group materialise, in fact, a novel religious scenario, marked by a sharper influence of Theravāda Buddhism and, on the other hand, a mélange of ethnocultural and Javanese-identitarian stances. More specifically, the paper intends to show how the formation of the youth organisation and the on-the-ground activities implemented reflect wider dynamics of internal mobility as well as new economic/entrepreneurial sensibilities. http://doi.org/10.30687/AnnOr/2385-3042/2024/02/008Entrepreneurialism. Indonesia. Living Buddhism. Youth movements
spellingShingle Rizzo, Roberto
Keeping Hold of the Jewel: Buddhist Youth Activism and Multidirectional Migration in Mountain Java
Annali di Ca’ Foscari: Serie Orientale
Entrepreneurialism. Indonesia. Living Buddhism. Youth movements
title Keeping Hold of the Jewel: Buddhist Youth Activism and Multidirectional Migration in Mountain Java
title_full Keeping Hold of the Jewel: Buddhist Youth Activism and Multidirectional Migration in Mountain Java
title_fullStr Keeping Hold of the Jewel: Buddhist Youth Activism and Multidirectional Migration in Mountain Java
title_full_unstemmed Keeping Hold of the Jewel: Buddhist Youth Activism and Multidirectional Migration in Mountain Java
title_short Keeping Hold of the Jewel: Buddhist Youth Activism and Multidirectional Migration in Mountain Java
title_sort keeping hold of the jewel buddhist youth activism and multidirectional migration in mountain java
topic Entrepreneurialism. Indonesia. Living Buddhism. Youth movements
url http://doi.org/10.30687/AnnOr/2385-3042/2024/02/008
work_keys_str_mv AT rizzoroberto keepingholdofthejewelbuddhistyouthactivismandmultidirectionalmigrationinmountainjava