Conversion, Competition and Conflict (Book Review)
Conversion, Competition and Conflict (Book Review) is a review by A. M. A. Ayrookuzhiel of Conversion, Competition and Conflict: Essays on the Role of Religion in Asia, edited by Dick Kooiman, Otto van der Muijzenberg and Peter van der Veer, and published by Free University Press, Amsterdam, in 1984. The review appeared in Religion and Society, Vol. 32, No. 1 (1985), p. 85.
The book brings together case studies from India, Indonesia and Formosa examining the relationships between religion and social change. Ayrookuzhiel highlights the volume’s historical approach to the interaction of religious, economic and political forces and considers it a valuable contribution to understanding South Asian societies and the changing role of religion within them.
Overview
The essays collected in Conversion, Competition and Conflict originated in a seminar on “Religion and Social Change in Asia”. The volume presents case studies from India, Indonesia and Formosa, united by an emphasis on historical perspectives and the interrelationship between religious, economic and political change.
Ayrookuzhiel highlights Peter van der Veer’s study of Brahman priests, or Pandas, in Ayodhya, which examines changes associated with the commercialisation of pilgrimage and the weakening of traditional Jajamana relationships. He contrasts this with Andre Wink’s discussion of the autonomy of traditional religious systems and their influence on political change in South Asia.
The review also notes the volume’s broader examination of political and economic conflicts and the ways religious forces may work to the advantage of particular groups. Ayrookuzhiel concludes by invoking both Marx and Max Weber as theoretical reference points and regards the collection as a valuable contribution to understanding the relationship between religion and political and economic life.
Review
Conversion, Competition and Conflict—(Essays on the Role of Religion in Asia) Edited by Dick Kooiman, Otto van der Muijzenberg and Peter van der Veer; Free University Press, Amsterdam, 1984.
The papers published in this volume were originally presented in a Seminar on ‘Religion and Social Change in Asia’. All the essays are in fact case studies from three countries, India, Indonesia and Formosa. But what is common to them is their historical perspective. Religious, economic and political changes are observed in their intricate interrelationship in the societies under study.
Van der Veer in his study of Brahman priests (Pandas) in Ayodhya demonstrates how their supposed religious value of detachment was maintainable as long as they had a Jajamana system of relationship with elite patrons in the society. But as the pilgrimage system was commercialized by the entry of the ordinary people who were not in a position to enter into a Jajamana type of relationship with the Pandas, strife and mutual competition among the Pandas became the order of the day, resulting in a devaluation of the job of Pandas. In other words, religious values do change as a result of economic and political changes. Andre Wink, on the other hand, shows how the traditional religious systems at large remain very much autonomous and in their own way affect political changes, in his article on Religion and Politics in South Asia.
Similarly, other essays deal with political or economic conflicts and how religious forces work to the advantage of one group or the other. The last essay by Dick Kooiman ‘The Gospel of Coffee’ is a study of how certain entirely religiously motivated actions result in entirely unintended consequences of economic development.
In short as far as theory goes, both Marx and Max Weber come alive in the book. The volume is a valuable addition to our understanding of South Asian countries and the vital role religions play in their political and economic life, as well as the changes taking place in those religions themselves.
— A. M. Abraham Ayrookuzhiel Bangalore
Publication
This review was published in Religion and Society, Vol. 32, No. 1 (1985), p. 85. It reviews Conversion, Competition and Conflict: Essays on the Role of Religion in Asia, edited by Dick Kooiman, Otto van der Muijzenberg and Peter van der Veer, and published by Free University Press, Amsterdam, in 1984.
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