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This project aims to understand the dynamics of both religiously inspired violence and peaceful coexistence on the part of Buddhists vis-à-vis perceived religious others in South East Asia. On this twin basis, the project ultimately seeks to draft specific policy-relevant recommendations aimed at preventing and, if and when needed, countering religiously informed extremist nationalism in Singapore. In light of recent history and ongoing events, four national contexts in the region have been identified as of especial relevance to Singaporean concerns: Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia. For each context, study will be undertaken of the textual supports used in support of violence and/or peaceful coexistence. Fieldwork will also be undertaken so as both to construct a network of contacts in the region with whom to collaborate into the foreseeable future, and to conduct empirically-based data-gathering regarding the Buddhist sources used in support of interreligious violence and/o

This project seeks to introduce a greater degree of precision into our understanding of Madhyamaka Buddhist ontological non-foundationalism, focussing specifically on the Madhyamaka founder Nāgārjuna (c. 150-250 CE). It distinguishes between four senses of what the “foundation” whose existence Mādhyamikas deny means; that is, i) as “something that stands under or grounds things” (a position known as generic substantialism); ii) as “a particular kind of basic entity” (specific substantialism); iii) as “an individual essence (a haecceity or thisness of that object) by means of which it is identical to that very object, to itself” (modal essentialism); and iv) as “an essence in the absence of which an object could be of a radically different kind or sort of object than it in fact is” (sortal essentialism).

This project builds on the ontological claims espoused by two major Buddhist and Christian philosophers: Nāgārjuna (c. 150 – 250) and Hegel (1770 – 1831). It uses Nāgārjuna’s fourfold tetralemma (catuṣkoṭi) and Hegel’s threefold dialectic (Dialektik) to propose a novel understanding of the ontological status of the self in its relation to itself and to its other, the no-self. Thus, it applies the tetralemma to the self, arguing that, to attain ontic completion, the self must itself reflect the tetralemmic form in the totality of its being – nothing – both-being-and-nothing – neither-being-nor-nothing. These in turn correspond to the Hegelian in-itself, for-another, both-in-itself-and-for-another, and neither-in-itself-nor-for-another.

Hate speech and violence associated with prejudice towards both Jews and Muslims appears to be on the rise in many parts of the globe. But what drivers are behind this, what links these forms of hatred, and how far is religion a factor in such hatred? Providing both historical, conceptual, and analytic perspectives, this project will explore the forms and practice of prejudice and violence enacted against Jews, Muslims, and others throughout history, with a particular focus on Anti-Semitic and Islamophobic prejudice. Various papers and articles are envisaged as outputs, with the main output being the book, Religious Hatred: Islamophobia and Antisemitism in Global Context, published with Bloomsbury Academic in early 2021. There is also a plan to develop an undergraduate course in this region in cooperation with CoHASS.

This is the Singapore part of a wider cross-border research project funded by the Australian Research Council. It explores Muslim attitudes to the “Religious Other”, and involves a collection of data in the public sphere and a series of interviews, while various seminars and conferences will arise from the project alongside a book project and other publications. The topics for research include Muslim perspectives towards people of the Religious Other, evolution of understandings on the treatment of the Religious Other, historical and contemporary Islamic scholarship on the issue, validity of and counterarguments to extremist views, and other related issues. Additional topics are the need for introspection and critical review of Islamic doctrines/dogma, managing growing conservatism in religions (starting with Islam and then others). The project will involve a critical engagement with relevant Islamic legal and theological texts with regard to the religious other.

This is a project to map out the notable interfaith actors in Singapore, in terms of who they are, the nature of their activities and how they interconnect and overlap. It will involve the production of a database containing information including the activities that the various actors engage in and how, if at all, the various actors are linked domestically and into international networks. The coverage of the database would be wide to include government bodies, civil society organisations and influential individuals active in the interreligious field.

Importantly, the project does not only involve the compilation of a database but will involve adopting and/or developing theoretical framework(s) against which to analyse the landscape of interfaith actors in Singapore and to help assess where there are strengths and weaknesses in terms of the promotion of positive interfaith relations.

This project will undertake both quantitative and qualitative research into Singapore’s religious landscape, seeking to map current trends and look to stay ahead of the curve in terms of changing attitudes and issues. Building from Part 1, existing studies and issues identified as well as seeking to map out potential future fault-lines, some key areas for examination will include: perceptions of shrinking Common Space; growing tendencies towards exclusivism and rejection of shared traditions and customs; the interconnection of ethnicity, nationalism and religion, including transnational networks; perceptions about the state’s interventions and management of religion; anxieties about, and impediments to interreligious dialogue and community cohesion; interreligious literacy; building blocks for a shared national narrative on social cohesion and religious harmony.