Religion in Southeast Asia: An Encyclopedia of Faiths and Cultures provides a comprehensive introduction to the complex world of the faiths and practices of the Southeast Asians. Rapid changes in Asia and the West necessitated a publication such as this. Increased migration to the United States in recent decades has redrawn the societal and demographic map of this nation. Religions such as Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism and their institutions, beliefs, and cultures are already a part of the landscape of the United States. The immigrants today play a high-profile role at various sectors in this country, pointing toward the need for a closer understanding of their faiths. While the immigrants have brought the faiths and cultures of Asia closer to the West, the forces of globalization have brought the traditions, cultures, and lifestyles of the West closer to Asia. The emergent pluralist societies in both the contexts, and the consequent challenges they raise, point toward the need for a publication such as this.
While this volume will be relevant to a wide cross-section of the society, more specifically, it is addressed to several target groups. The primary audience of the publication will be the high schools, colleges, and libraries of the United States. Following the decision of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) to recognize the study of religion as an integral part in meeting its Curriculum Standards, the public schools and colleges in the country have started to focus more sharply on a study of world religion. Reference materials that provide accurate and sufficient information to support student research on world religions will become absolutely necessary in such a context. This volume, which provides comprehensive research material on the religions and cultures of Southeast Asia, will enormously benefit students and researchers in broadening their horizon.
The encyclopedia provides valuable and user-friendly reference material for several other sections as well. Southeast Asia has rapidly emerged as a major buyer and seller of goods for the American market. Understanding people and their religions and cultures is an essential part of sound business practices. Considering the enormous potential of U.S.-Asian (including ASEAN) business dealings, this volume will capture the interest of additional users such as business librarians, journalists, and policy makers. In the context of globalization, the publication has the further purpose of providing businesspersons and all those who deal with Southeast Asians at diverse levels as well as the general public with nontechnical information. As the American-Asian partnership in business grows, such resources would become valuable.
Recent geopolitical developments and the increased American involvement at the global level indicate that Southeast Asia will probably be a major arena for U.S. international relations in the twenty-first century. In the overall highly complex context of the region where religions play a more prominent role in public life and daily life than in most other parts of the world, the encyclopedia will be a cross-cultural link, facilitating a more organic relationship with Southeast Asia.
In short, this volume serves to bring together various strands of movements and thoughts on religion and culture in Southeast Asia and to benefit a wide cross-section of the society. While the publication is not meant for the specialist in religion, it is geared toward both the academic and lay audience. As far as we are aware, this will be the first publication that contains all the essential information on the religions and cultures of Southeast Asia for the American student, researcher, businessperson, geopolitical analyst, and layperson who are interested in the emerging U.S. interface with Asia. The format of the volume is conducive for accurate as well as easy reading. The contributors of the articles were requested to write at a level and in a style that is accessible, accurate, and jargon free. Each article contains a list of references for further reading and cross-references for students interested in more detailed information. The volume also has over 50 sidebars, a comprehensive bibliography, a list of topical categories, and an index.
As the editor, I am indebted to many people who were a part of this publication project during the last few years. I am grateful to Mr. George Butler, ABC-CLIO editor for religion and history, who asked me to undertake this project. He and Ms. Barbara Patterson, ABC-CLIO project coordinator, provided the infrastructural support. The articles and sidebars in the volume were written by a team of distinguished scholars spread across North America, Europe, and Asia. We deeply regret that the renowned Thai scholar Pattana Kitiarsa, who was a part of this team, passed away during the course of this project. There were others who supported this project throughout, with their counsel, articles, and moral support. Some of their names need to be mentioned: Alimatul Qibtiyah (Indonesia), David Scott (USA), Ruchi Agarwal (Thailand), Alexandra Kent (Cambodia), Wesley Ariarajah (Switzerland) and Adrian Bird (USA). My wife Dinah Oommen and our son Jacob Athyal provided the needed support at home. I am indebted to all these dear ones.
Since the target audience of this encyclopedia is high school students in the United States who will be writing term papers on Southeast Asia, we have followed the policy of alphabetization by last name for all the biographical articles in order to facilitate easy location of entries in the book. We recognize that some Asian names are alphabetized differently. However, we are following this pattern in this publication as our primary goal in it is for its contents to be easily accessible to our students.
Jesudas M. Athyal