Events

Missionary activity has a long history in Asia and continues today with considerable energy throughout the region. While it is often thought that missionaries are primarily concerned with religious matters, this is not always the case. Many missionaries have been deeply concerned with societal transformation through initiatives relating to education, health, agriculture, gender or social mobility. Moreover, exactly what constitutes a ‘religious’ matter – and whether this is imagined as distinct from political and economic affairs – is constantly under negotiation. Even when primarily interested in matters of salvation or, more prosaically, affiliation, the work of missionaries invariably has cascading, unplanned effects. This symposium investigates the connections between missionaries and political formations, and particularly democracy, in Asia. We are interested in mission activity undertaken across the spectrum of religious traditions, as well as by those ‘secular’ missionaries intent on pursuing agendas devoid of religious association. The forum will be one of dynamic debate about the various possible relationships: Did missionaries help catalyze democratic formations, and if so how? Were missionaries encapsulated by, and did they help extend, imperial regimes which inhibited democratic processes? Are missionary activities today still re-working, stimulating or resisting political formations in far-reaching ways?

The roundtable will consist of presentations by leading scholars, while also providing space for discussion between panelists and with other attendees. ARI’s Director Prasenjit Duara will facilitate the discussion.

These speakers are namely:

– Robert Woodberry, Political Science, NUS

– Farish Noor, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, NTU

– Phil Enns, Philosophy, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan

– Ronojoy Sen, Institute of South Asian Studies, NUS

– Xu Guangqiu, Department of History, NUS

– Martin van Bruinessen, Asia Research Institute, NUS

We request that all attendees read Robert Woodberry’s (2012) recent paper ‘The Missionary Roots of Liberal Democracy’ prior to the symposium. This paper will serve as an entry point for debate and the argument outlined in the paper will be assumed as background for the roundtable presentations and discussion. The paper can be accessed online at the American Political Science Review (106:2), or downloaded from this link.

This symposium is part of a series of research initiatives into the relationships between religion and development in Asia.