In this article, we look at four recent case studies in Myanmar, moments of contestation over legal authority in which monks or monk-led groups challenged the boundaries or principles of monastic authority, intervened in the realm of secular law, were constrained by both religious and secular authorities, or found ways to challenge or circumvent those authorities. We argue that these moments of contestation are enabled by the democratic reforms taking place unevenly across Myanmar's political terrain, which have generated opportunities for the state to intervene in monastic affairs and created possibilities for religious actors to influence the state and civil laws. These cases demonstrate the limits of formal monastic authority and reveal ambiguities in civil and religious jurisdic-tion over mass-membership lay-monastic organizations such as 969 and Ma Ba Tha.
目次
Abstract 1 Introduction 2 Sangha Organization and Authority 5 Case Study 1: Banning 969 and the Creation of Ma Ba Tha 10 Case Study 2: The Creation and Implementation of the Four "Race and Religion Protection Laws" 14 Case Study 3: Ma Ha Na's July 2016 Statement on Ma Ba Tha 18 Case Study 4: Ma Ha Na's May 2017 Statement on Ma Ba Tha 23 Conclusion 28 Bibliography 32
