Project Description
The Project was initiated and organized by University at Buffalo
Law Professors Rebecca Redwood French and David
M. Engel in 2003. They invited worldwide renowned experts
in the fields of Buddhism, Asian studies, Law, Anthropology, History,
Sociology, Linguistics, Communication, and Political Science to
meet to discuss the research and development of discipline on the
study of legal systems in Buddhist cultures. This included the
legal systems of Tibet, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Burma,
Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, China, Japan, and Korea. In
June 2004, these scholars met and developed a long-term strategic
plan during a workshop held under the auspices of the Baldy Center
for Law & Social Policy at the University at Buffalo Law School.
The mission of this Project is to develop a subdisciplinary area
of pedagogy on the relationship between legal systems and Buddhism
in its variety of multinational contexts. This necessarily begins
with an empirical investigation into identifying Buddhist and secular
legal systems, as they currently exist, as well as their origins,
evolution, and possible courses as they relate to and have influenced
each other, and have been influenced by other systems.
Project Background
While there is a long history of research, writing, and conferences
on the legal traditions of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Judaism,
the Buddhist legal tradition has no such legacy. In North America
and Europe, it is not part of comparative law. There is no disciplinary
field of Buddhist law, and there are no academic departments, no
chairs, few books, and only a handful of conferences.
As a field of study, the intersection of Law and Buddhism presents
several interesting problems. Historically, as Buddhism moved across
the Asian and now the Western landscape, it has generally been
open-textured and adaptive, as opposed to mutually exclusive, in
relation to other religious systems. Buddhism has blended with
animism, local traditions, and national systems. Its effects are
subtler and less apparent than those of Islam or Christianity,
for example. This makes the investigation of Buddhist legal cultures
across the Asian continent an endeavor that requires a variety
of disciplinary tools and investigative methodologies, including
the use of ethnographic materials, varying research questions depending
on the region and the consideration of multiple possible models.
There is no single limiting legal agenda as in the American context,
but a proliferation of distinct variations, which may or may not
have commonalities worthy of exploration.
Steering Committee
The Law & Buddhism Project is led by a group
of renowned scholars from various points of the globe:
- Rebecca Redwood French (coordinator)
- Professor, State University of New York at Buffalo
- David M. Engel
- Director of International Programs and Professor, University
of New York at Buffalo Law School
- Frank E. Reynolds
- Professor of the History of Religions, Buddhist Studies, and
the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, University
of Chicago
- José Cabezon
- Professor of Religious Studies University of California, Santa
Barbara
- Andrew Huxley
- Professor, Department of Law, School of Oriental & African
Studies, University of London
- Leslie Gunawardana
- Professor, former Vice-Chancellor, University of Peradeniya,
Sri Lanka
Contact
To contact the Law and Buddhism Project please send an e-mail to law-buddhism@buffalo.edu
