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Culture Change in the Name of Cultural Preservation HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies Volume 24 Number 1 Himalaya; The Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies Article 12 No. 1 & 2 2004 Culture Change in the Name of Cultural Preservation Geoff Childs Department of Anthropology, Washington University, St. Louis Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya Recommended Citation Childs, Geoff. 2004. Culture Change in the Name of Cultural Preservation. HIMALAYA 24(1). Available at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya/vol24/iss1/12 This Research Article is brought to you for free and open access by the DigitalCommons@Macalester College at DigitalCommons@Macalester College. It has been accepted for inclusion in HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Macalester College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. GEOFF CHILDS DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY, WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, ST LOUIS CULTURE CHANGE IN THE NAME OF CULTURAL PRESERVATION1 The resultant processes of culture change are veiled by a persistent “assumption…that Tibetan culture finds its expression first and foremost in monastic Buddhism, and that anything that does not fit the normative mold represents degenera- tion from a pristine cultural template. Young monks eating tsampa PHOTO: TED SAVAGE his essay explores the ways that Western My argument relates to Shneiderman’s observation economic support for Tibetan exile monasteries that “more static notions of religious identities” Tin South Asia stimulates (1) the exodus of are being encouraged throughout the highlands of ” young males from the Buddhist highlands of Nepal, Nepal by “extra-local entities” (e.g., Tibetan exile and (2) the homogenization of diverse religious monasteries, foreign charitable organizations, and practices in those same areas. I argue that the attempt state governments), resulting in “shifts in local to “preserve” Tibetan culture by supporting monks notions of religious authority” (Shneiderman n.d.). and monasteries has unanticipated consequences that At the core of this essay are two interrelated argu- reverberate beyond the point of articulation between ments, one demographic and one cultural. The de- patrons and priests. The resultant processes of mographic argument begins by noting that money culture change are veiled by a persistent assumption provided by Western donors to support Tibetan about the nature of Tibetan societies, namely, that rinpoches (“precious one”, a title of respect for an Tibetan culture finds its expression first and foremost esteemed lama) has resulted in a proliferation of in monastic Buddhism, and that anything that does monasteries in exile. Meanwhile, the decline of fer- not fit the normative mold represents degeneration tility among Tibetan refugees has prompted these from a pristine cultural template (see Ramble 1993). resurrected institutions to look for new sources of CULTURE CHANGE IN THE NAME OF CULTURAL PRESERVATION/CHILDS 31 recruits. The ethnically Tibetan, religiously Buddhist, high 1967; Wallerstein 1979). Anthropologists working from the fertility highlands of Nepal has emerged as their primary perspective of political economy contributed important stud- recruiting ground. The cultural argument considers the ies about changes instigated when local communities become ramifications of these new migration patterns. Some indi- integrated into a global, capitalist market system (e.g., Wolf viduals from Nepal’s highlands who receive training in the 1982). A derivative of this research is the current focus on exile monasteries subsequently become catalysts for culture “globalization” (Eriksen 2003; Trouillot 2003). Although def- change; returning to their natal villages, they encounter reli- initions of this concept vary across disciplines and according gious systems that differ from the to theoretical interests, one that is ones they were trained in, and set particularly succinct and useful for out to rectify matters. In short, the the purpose of this essay is the fol- working hypotheses for this essay lowing: “Contemporary globaliza- are the following: tion is the increasing flow of trade, Hypothesis 1: The recent pro- finance, culture, ideas, and people liferation of exile monasteries, brought about by the sophisticated supported in part by foreign technology of communications and patrons, has increased the de- travel by the worldwide spread of mand for monks. The rapid neoliberal capitalism, and it is the fertility decline among Tibetan local and regional adaptations to exiles has stimulated the inten- and resistance against these flows” sification of recruitment efforts (Lewellen 2002). in Nepal’s Buddhist highlands, Lewellen’s definition is used resulting in an unprecedented here as a starting point to sort out level of out-migration of young the local and regional adaptations males. resulting from the flows of capi- Hypothesis 2: The goal of pre- tal between Westerners and exile serving Tibetan culture is a monasteries, albeit in this case the rationale for Westerners to sup- focus is on charitable giving rather port Tibetan exile monasteries. than on the spread of capitalism. An unintended consequence Modern communications and the of foreign patronage for these relative ease of international travel monasteries is the loss of cul- help facilitate the flow of capital tural diversity in the ethnically between Western patrons and Tibetan, Buddhist highlands of their Tibetan lamas. Gone are the Nepal. days when disciples had to journey to the East to meet their mentors. This is not the first study to ex- Young monk, Paro PHOTO: GARY GOLDENBERG amine the interactions between Nowadays some rinpoches live Tibetan Buddhists and Western disciples (e.g., Batchelor more or less permanently in the West; many of their dis- 1994; Lopez 1998; Prebish and Baumann 2002; Moran ciples have never set foot in Nepal, India, or Tibet. Modern 2004, Zablocki 2005). My own approach to this topic di- communications diminish the distance between students verges from other studies of “transnational Buddhism” (1) by and teachers. I recall sitting with a rinpoche in Kathmandu concentrating on cultural changes that occur in places far when a disciple called his cell phone from the U.S. to discuss removed from the points of contact between Westerners and a bad dream and other obstacles to his meditation practice. their Tibetan Buddhists, and (2) by examining the interac- The internet also eases the dissemination of information tions between the transnational flow of charitable giving and across the globe. Travel and teaching schedules of rinpoches demographic trends. are regularly posted on sites associated with Buddhist orga- The social impacts that Western economic systems have nizations. A cursory Google search uncovered itineraries for on local communities is an important topic in the social sci- more than twenty different lamas who will travel from South ences. Several decades ago critics of modernization theory Asia to the U.S. during the summer of 2005. The increasing posited that so-called “traditional societies” (those character- frequency and intensity of international contacts has made ized by their isolation, impoverishment, and adherence to it easier than ever for lamas to relay their requests to foreign customs) were in fact created through marginalization; that patrons, and for those patrons to convert the requests into is, they are by-products of capitalism and colonialism (Frank monetary support by raising funds that then enter the trans- 32 HIMALAYA XXIV (1-2) 2004 national stream of capital. to the periphery since they are not “Buddhist” and hence Before proceeding, some caveats are in order. First, West- are of little relevance. Obviously, rituals meant to propitiate erners are not the only ones who patronize Tibetan lamas and malevolent forces that threaten crops or bovines have no their monasteries in exile. A considerable amount of fund- applicability in the life of a suburban-dwelling Western ing comes from Taiwan (both from government and private disciple. sources), and in more recent times from Buddhist communi- Tibetan exiles are also active agents in propagating spe- ties in Korea, Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia (Moran 2004; cific images of their society for strategic purposes (Huber Zablocki 2005). The focus on Western patrons is prompted 2001). They are adept at “deploying” a vision of their culture by the explicit connection they often make between chari- to mobilize political support (McLagan 1997), including the table giving and cultural preservation, an ideology that sets viewpoint that certain monastic-based rituals benefit all of them apart from benefactors in other countries. Second, for humanity (Schrempf 1997). Prodded by the favorable recep- the purpose of simplifying the analysis, this paper centers ex- tion that they have received in the West, Tibetans now help clusively on monks. Nuns are excluded for practical and de- disseminate the equation that normative monastic Buddhism mographic reasons [I have better data on monks, and monks equals Tibetan culture. outnumber nuns nine to one in the Tibetan exile population The task of perpetuating the above equation is now ful- (Planning Council 2000:215)]. Third, I have created what filled—whether consciously or not—by people whose views many will consider a false dichotomy between Buddhist mo- carry considerable weight with the general public, including nasticism
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