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Informationen zum Autor Ingrid Jordt is an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin! Milwaukee. She has conducted research in Burma since 1988. Klappentext "Burma's Mass Lay Meditation Movement: Buddhism and the Cultural Construction of Power" describes a transformation in Buddhist practice in contemporary Burma. This revitalization movement has had real consequences for how the oppressive military junta, in power since the early 1960s, governs the country. Drawing on more than ten years of extensive fieldwork in Burma, Ingrid Jordt explains how vipassana meditation has brought about a change of worldview for millions of individuals, enabling them to think and act independently of the totalitarian regime. Jordt explains how the movement has been successful in its challenge to the Burmese military dictatorship where democratically inspired resistance movements have failed. "Burma's Mass Lay Meditation Movement" is a valuable contribution to Buddhist studies as well as anthropology, religious studies, and political science. "Ingrid Jordt presents an insightful account of Burmese Buddhism, lay meditation and the construction of political legitimacy. Her analysis shows the complex ways in which Burmese culture mediates popular beliefs concerning power and millennial expectations. This book will be required reading for students of Buddhism, anthropology, religion, political science, and those with geographic interests in Southeast Asia, and particularly Burma." - Juliane Schober, Department of Religious Studies, Arizona State University Zusammenfassung Describes a transformation in Buddhist practice in contemporary Burma. This book addresses human rights as well as the relationship between politics and religion in a country in which neither the government nor the people clearly separates the two.