Political theologies and development in Asia: Transcendence, sacrifice, and aspiration

190 Pages·2020·3.161 MB·English

by  Giuseppe Bolotta (editor), Philip Fountain (editor), R. Michael Feener (editor)

Political theologies and

development in Asia

Political theologies and

development in Asia
Transcendence, sacrifice, and
aspiration
Edited by
Giuseppe Bolotta, Philip Fountain,
and R. Michael Feener
Manchester University Press
Copyright © Manchester University Press 2020
While copyright in the volume as a whole is vested in Manchester University
Press, copyright in individual chapters belongs to their respective authors, and no
chapter may be reproduced wholly or in part without the express permission in
writing of both author and publisher.
Published by Manchester University Press
Altrincham Street, Manchester M1 7JA
www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 5261 4940 4 hardback
First published 2020
The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for
any external or third- party internet websites referred to in this book, and does
not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate
or appropriate.
COVER IMAGE: Parade of mourners for the ‘Development King’ at the
Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew), Bangkok 2017. Photo
by R. Michael Feener.
Typeset by Newgen Publishing UK
For Silvia Vignato and Robin Bush

Contents

List of figures page ix
Notes on contributors x
Preface xv
1 Transcendence, sacrifice, and aspiration: the political
theology of development in Asia 1
Giuseppe Bolotta, Philip Fountain, and R. Michael Feener
2 East of Westphalia: shaping the body- politic via
institutional charisma 18
Armando Salvatore
3 The yogic ethic and the spirit of development 40
Sunila S. Kale and Christian Lee Novetzke
4 Managing Karbala: genealogies of Shiʿa humanitarianism
in Pakistan, England, and Iraq 55
Till Mostowlansky
5 From blood, cast in cement: materialising the political
in Thailand 68
Eli Elinoff
6 The theopolitics of art: Qur’anic objects and their publics
in Indonesia 87
Kenneth M. George
viii Contents
7 Embodying the late King: Buddhist salvation and the
sacrifice of sovereignty at a Bangkok mall 104
Edoardo Siani
8 Being alone: the political theology of the development citizen 119
Sam Han
Notes 133
Bibliography 141
Index 165
Figures

6.1 A page from the manuscript. Sura 114, An- Naas
(‘Humanity’) from the Al- Qur’an Mushaf Istiqlal.
Reproduced by permission of the Yayasan
Festival Istiqlal. page 95
6.2 The Lagerfeld bustier. Detail from an unattributed
photograph appearing in the Brisbane Courier- Mail,
Saturday 22 January 1994. 99