Proselytizing and the Limits of Religious Pluralism in Contemporary Asia

This book explores the complex ways in which contemporary contexts of religious pluralism in Asia both enable, and are threatened by, projects of proselytization. It covers a broad range of national and confessional contexts across Asia.

R. Michael Feener is Research Leader of the Religion and Globalization Research Cluster at the Asia Research Institute, and Associate Professor of History at the National University of Singapore. Previously he taught at Reed College, and the University of California, Riverside. He has also held visiting professor positions and research fellowships at Kyoto University, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (Paris), the University of Copenhagen, The Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art (Honolulu), and the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) in Leiden. Born in Salem, Massachusetts, he was trained in Islamic Studies and foreign languages at Boston University as well as in Indonesia, Egypt, and the Yemen. His books include Shari`a and Social Engineering: The Implementation of Islamic Law in Contemporary Aceh, Muslim Legal Thought in Modern Indonesia, Shi?ism and Beyond: ?Alid Piety in Muslim Southeast Asia (with Chiara Formichi), From the Ground Up: Perspectives on Post-Tsunami and Post-Conflict Aceh (with Patrick Daly & Anthony Reid), Mapping the Acehnese Past (with Patrick Daly & Anthony Reid), Islamic Connections: Muslim Societies of South and Southeast Asia (with Terenjit Sevea), Islamic Law in Contemporary Indonesia: Ideas and Institutions (with Mark Cammack), and Islam in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives.Juliana Finucane received her Ph.D. in Religion from Syracuse University, and has worked in the Religion and Globalization cluster at the Asia Research Institute of National University of Singapore, Wells College, and Syracuse University. Her research areas include the globalization of Japanese new Buddhist movements, and she has done research with members of the Soka Gakkai in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, and the United States. In particular, she focuses on new forms of missionary activity in global and globalizing cities, the use of media to promote religious pluralism, and the relationship of freedom of the press and freedom of religion.