The supernaturalization of Thai political culture: Thailand's magical stamps of approval at the nexus of media, market and state
Date
2016-11
Authors
Jackson, Peter A
Journal Title
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Volume Title
Publisher
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies Mita
Abstract
Since the 1980s, new supernatural movements have become highly
visible additions to Thailand’s spiritual landscapes and religious
marketplaces. Focused on supernatural intervention to bring success,
wealth and prosperity in Thailand’s expanding economy, these
movements are often only tangentially related to orthodox Theravada
Buddhist teachings and practice. These highly commodified wealthoriented
movements emerged in the context of Thailand’s economic
boom in the 1980s and 1990s, and have continued to grow in popularity
and develop further through the 1997 Asian economic crisis and the
political conflicts that have destabilized Thai society over the past
decade. The large number of colourful special issues of Thai postage
stamps devoted to supernatural cults of prosperity released since
2004 reflects the relocation of these movements from the margins to
the centre of national religious practice. These stamp special issues
also reflect a major shift in the regime of power over public imaging
that depicts the participation of Thailand’s economic, political and
royal elites in new forms of supernatural ritual. This ritual has now
been incorporated into state projects under the aegis of officially
sponsored Theravada Buddhism. No longer kept hidden or private,
elite participation in supernatural ritual is becoming an increasingly
visible and politically significant dimension of the symbolism and
exercise of power in early twenty-first-century Thailand.
Description
Keywords
Thailand, prosperity religion, resurgent supernaturalism, postage stamps, media, commodification, state power, political culture, Buddhism
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Source
SOJOURN: Journal of social issues in Southeast Asia
Type
Journal article
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Access Statement
Open Access