Buddhism and Social Justice

Conference Dates: 23 - 25 April 2014

A three-day International Conference organised by the Buddhism and Social Justice Project at Leiden University.
 

Moving away from a common perception of Buddhism as intrinsically a tradition of peace and justice, our project—based at Leiden University—seeks to explore the various ways in which historically Buddhist societies have shaped, transmitted, and adapted Buddhist ideas and ideals about equality, fairness, and freedom. We are further interested in how (if at all) such societies have instantiated these ideas and ideals.

The intent of the conference "Buddhism and Social Justice" is to gather scholars to discuss Classical and modern Buddhist notions of justice and their real world reflexes. We will be most centrally concerned with Buddhist visions—implicit or explicit—of ideal (just) societies and the role of human action, as these appear, for instance, in the realms of freedom and its constraints, social hierarchy and mobility, economic opportunity, and power and self-determination.

The full text of the initial proposal upon which our project was based, and other information about our research team, and the conference itself, can be consulted on our website.

This Call for Papers has invited scholars interested in these issues from a descriptive, rather than prescriptive, point of view to come together and share their expertise, findings and questions. Papers will deal with many regions within Asia and any time period.

Programme and Abstracts
Please visit our website www.buddhismandsocialjustice.com to view the full programme, conference abstracts and to stay updated on conference developments.

Registration
The interested public is welcome to attend, but we do ask that you register (free of charge) in order to allow us to plan properly for seats and catering.

Registration emails and questions can be sent to: conference@buddhismandsocialjustice.com