WIRED SIGNED

Project "WIRED" data sheet

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 Project objective

This project examines the critical and unforeseen role of infrastructure in the Tibetan Buddhist revival in contemporary China. Although both state-led development in minority regions and Tibetan Buddhist revivalism in China have been widely discussed, they are usually treated as separate realms of study, as if one represents material development and the other emphasizes immaterial perspectives. The main objective of my research is to show that these two features of Sino-Tibetan relations are in fact interlinked. I use an in-depth ethnographic method to explore the growing infrastructural connections between Tibet and China, from remote Tibetan regions to Chinese metropolitan areas, by looking at internet access, new construction, roadways, facilities, practices, and policies and examining their impact on the Tibetan Buddhist revival in China and vice versa. My study examines the much neglected relationship that exists between religious movements in society and the infrastructural projects of the state. In doing so, it provides not only an alternative perspective from which to understand religious movements and ethnic politics in the Chinese context, but, more broadly, offers a critical and theoretical reassessment of the relationships between materiality and immateriality, human and non-human agency, and object and subject. The University of Copenhagen is an ideal place in which to pursue my project. The Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies uniquely combines interdisciplinary inquiry and study across Minority Studies, China Studies, Tibetology, and Religious Studies, all of which are crucial to my project. In particular, my project fits well with the research foci of the Department’s Center for Contemporary Buddhist Studies, a world-class research center led by Associate Professor Trine Brox, with a focus on the mediating role that Buddhism plays in materiality, spirituality, economy, and value across contemporary societies.