[Last modified: November, 26 2024 08:54 AM]
This week I will consider the political dimensions of my pilot project – Buddhism and Ecology. I will consider the political orientation and assumption, my political positionality as well as potential political implication of my study.
I assume my pilot project to take place in a Buddhist monastery in the UK. Now I will explain the political orientation and assumption of my research. First, my research is based on the political orientation that the natural environment ought to be protected; the relationship between human and non-human beings are crucial consideration; an alternative ideology (or ontology) is required to resist the pervasive capitalist way of living. And the political assumption is that the Buddhist interlocutors are concerned with the ecological crises faced by human beings today and have distinctive methods to deal with such issues. In addition, there is an assumption that the religiosity of Buddhism has to do with the ecological attitudes and practices of my interlocutors.
And I am positioned as a Buddhist follower as the researcher. This, on the one hand, may help me work with my interlocutors and engage with them in my field work, due to my closeness to the community and basic understandings of the religion. On the other hand, this may mean that I could be carrying my presumptions into my research, and this is something I should keep reflecting on. Yet, being a Buddhist may not still explain everything about my positionality. I am also green and progressive minded, and what made me a Buddhist in the first place may be different from that of my interlocutors. I may not find what I expected to see, as a result. There may also be critical differences between my Buddhism and my interlocutors’ Buddhism due to sectarian differences or individualised understandings. This is also what I should keep in mind when conducting my research and I should take these potential differences seriously.
Now I will consider the political implication of my research. This could be positive. My research may be able to help people know more about the intersection between Buddhism and environment protection and environmentalism. It could even foster understandings from those who do not identify with a progressive political agenda yet agree to the Buddhist approach to nature. At the same time, my research could potentially politicise normal religious activities which may not be the wish of my interlocutors and could even lead to some disagreement amongst individuals. Whether or not this is what my interlocutors want needs to be found out later during the study.