Photographs - Day 1

 

Photographs - Day 2

 

Photographs - Day 3

A Conference on Buddhism and Social Justice
23-25 April 2014, Leiden University

Pavilion building, Museum Volkenkunde
Steenstraat 1, Leiden

Moving away from a common perception of Buddhism as intrinsically a tradition of peace and justice, our project—based at Leiden University—explores the various ways in which historically Buddhist societies have shaped, transmitted, and adapted Buddhist ideas and ideals about equality, fairness, and freedom. We are further interested in how (if at all) such societies have instantiated these ideas and ideals.

The conference “Buddhism and Social Justice” gathers scholars to discuss Classical and modern Buddhist notions of justice and their real world reflexes. We are most centrally concerned with Buddhist visions—implicit or explicit—of ideal (just) societies and the role of human action, as these appear, for instance, in the realms of freedom and its constraints, social hierarchy and mobility, economic opportunity, and power and self-determination.

The full text of the initial proposal upon which our project was based, and other information about our research team, and the conference itself, can be consulted on our website.

Scholars presenting at the conference will address issues of Buddhism and Social Justice from a descriptive, rather than prescriptive, point of view, coming together to share their expertise, findings and questions. Papers will deal with many regions within Asia and range in time from the earliest days of Buddhism to the present day.

Guests are free to attend, but we regret we cannot offer any assistance to guests in applying for visas to travel to the Netherlands. Questions can be sent to conference@buddhismandsocialjustice.com