The aim of this paper is to the study of the role of women Buddhists in the delivery of Buddhist compassion and the micro-politics of volunteerism from a feminist perspective. It sets out to ask a simple question: What attracts and motivates the Chinese women Buddhists to become actively engaged in religious volunteerism and commit their time, energies and resources into doing philanthropic works for the greater needs of their local and transnational communities. Ethnographically, I want to explore how through their understanding of the Buddhist teachings, these women Buddhists interpret and integrate their status, role and actions within their local socially-engaged Buddhist community. At the same time, to understand how, in today's globalised world, these women focus and frame themselves as performers of emotive compassion in the local and global societies. Through this study, this paper argues that using a feminist perspective will shed light on the micro-politics of women's involvement in Buddhist volunteerism in three areas: empowerment, social visibility and emotive philanthropy.
目次
Abstract 357 Introduction 358 Profile of Informants 359 Empowering Women as Bodhisattvas 359 Compassion as Emotive Performance 366 Integrating Compassion into the Neighbourhood 367 Transnational Volunteerism and Reconstruction 371 Consoling and Counselling through Meals 372 Conclusion: Women Volunteerism within a Thealogical Framework 373 References 374
