Pursuing Morality

Justine Chambers is a sociocultural anthropologist whose research focuses on ethnonational conflict, morality, violence, and everyday life in southeast Myanmar.

"People living in a Buddhist society such as Myanmar confront conflicting moral injunctions. As Justine Chambers demonstrates in her vivid and valuable addition to the small number of recent ethnographic accounts of the country, life in a conflict-torn region of a troubled nation generates endless moral ambiguity, with contradictory, messy, and fascinating consequences." – Ward Keeler, University of Texas at Austin"Justine Chambers' insightful study of the ways in which Plong Buddhists 'pursue' morality sensitively captures the complexities, tensions and consistencies of living a moral life in community with others. Her attention to diverse Plong perspectives also illuminates our understanding of broader dynamics of civil conflict and Buddhist nationalism in Myanmar." – Matthew Walton, University of Toronto

• LIST OF FIGURESACKNOWLEDGEMENTACRONYMSLANGUAGE AND TERMINOLOGYGLOSSARYPRELUDEINTRODUCTIONStudying Morality as an Outsider in a Hospitable LandChapter OutlineCHAPTER ONEKAREN: A MORAL PEOPLE IN A CONFLICT STATEConflict in Southeast Myanmar: The Moral Karen and the Struggle for KawthooleiIntroducing Hpa-An: A Centre for Militarised Buddhist AuthorityKaren Unity Amid Division: Coming Together in the Karen Wrist Tying CeremonyCompeting Moral Projects of Power and Statehood in a Time of ChangeCHAPTER TWOBROKERING MORALITY IN THE BUDDHIST 'MORAL UNIVERSE'A Charismatic Monk, his Daga and the 'Merit-Power' NexusThe Buddhist 'Moral Universe'A Buddhist Strongman: The Moral Consequences of Unclean BusinessMorality Without Faith? Keeping Thout Kyar as A Plong IdealReflections on Brokering Morality in a Power-Laden LandscapeCHAPTER THREETRAVERSING MORALITY IN A CHANGING WORLDHpa-An's Changing Social LandscapeAspiring Subjects: Searching for a 'Life Of Curry'The Limits Of Moral AgencyReflections on Traversing Morality in a Changing WorldCHAPTER FOURENACTING MORALITY: COMING OF AGE ON SHIFTING MORAL GROUNDComing of Age as a Young Plong WomanTransgressing Morality? Playing with Different Selves during ThingyanReflections on Pursuing Morality as a Young Woman 'Coming Of Age'CHAPTER FIVECULTIVATING MORALITY IN AN AGE OF DECLINEHpu Takit's Plong Nationality VillageHpu Takit: The Embodiment of a Charismatic Moral AuthorityThe Revitalisation of a Plong Buddhist UniverseCultivating Morality within the Constraints of the Life CourseReflections on Cultivating Morality in an Age Of DeclineCHAPTER SIXDEFENDING MORAL COMMUNITY: BUDDHIST NATIONALISM AND PLONG MORAL IDENTITYPlong Buddhist Morality and its OtherViolence in the Name of Protecting the SasanaReflections on Defending Moral CommunityCHAPTER SEVENPURSUING MORALITY IN THE MIDST OF A CRISISResearch Among Plong Buddhists and its SignificanceBIBLIOGRAPHYINDEX