Asian Religions and Society Series. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2010. x, 310 pp. (Figures.) C$32.95, paper. ISBN 978-0-7748-1663-2.
This newest edited volume on rich Asian religious traditions in British Columbia is a welcome addition to the expanding collected works on religions of Asian origin in Canada, and in the US. This volume is however the first one to attempt to survey comprehensively Asian religions in all their variety, focusing on British Columbia, one of the most ethnically diverse areas in Canada and home to one of the most densely populated Asian Canadian communities.
This book is a result of a research project organized by the editors, in which local scholars were recruited to focus on a particular religious tradition, review its history, and to conduct firsthand research that included interviews and observation. The volume is divided into three major sections: part 1, “Traditions from South Asia”; part 2, “Traditions from Southeast Asia”; and part 3, “Traditions from East and Central Asia.” Part 1 includes chapters on the Hindu and Other South Asian Religious Groups, the Sikhs, Asian Muslims and Zoroastrians. Part 2 contains chapters on Thai and Lao Buddhism, Sri Lankan and Myanmar Buddhism, and Vietnamese Buddhism. Part 3 comprises chapters that focus on Korean religions (especially Korean Christianity), Tibetan religions, Japanese religions, Chinese Christianity and Chinese religions.
The obvious strength of this volume is its comprehensiveness; it is a “go to” book for those who desire a general introduction to the diverse Asian religious landscape of Canada. All the chapters are organized well in a synchronized manner; each chapter introduces the religion, conducts an overview of its historical background both in the countries of origin and the religion’s transformation and transplantation as an immigrant religion, describes the religious landscape in detail as it exists in British Columbia, and relates the religion to Canadian society, particularly to Canada’s well-known official policy of multiculturalism established in 1971.
Regarding this national policy of multiculturalism, one of the central guiding questions for the volume, then, is how well this policy has worked for Canada by exploring the complexity and diversity of religious life brought over by immigrants. The editors ask, by investigating how these religions have developed, are being changed, and functioning in British Columbia, whether the Asian religious organizations assist the individuals of Asian ethnicity become a part of the Canadian community, or reinforce divisions of Canadian society into separate ethnic communities. And if the latter is true, is it a problem that Canada should “worry about, or is it a positive phenomenon that contributes to the multicultural mosaic” of Canada? Thus, this is a book as much about the successes as failures of the multiculturalist path Canada has chosen as a nation by investigating one part of its religious landscape.
The answers individual authors provide vary, revealing similarities as well as differences among the different religious groups and how they are adapting to Canadian society as institutions, and how they are helping their members adjust to Canadian society. Each group faces a different set of challenges as well as successes in adjusting to the new social and immigrant context in British Canada. The basic functions most of these religions serve for their ethnic/immigrant communities are not vastly different from what we have observed for ethnic/immigrant churches in the US. Most serve to assist members in coping with a new and unfamiliar environment, functioning for example as community service centres, a “refuge” for the “downtrodden,” as the author of Pujabi Sikhs describes it, places where ethnic culture is preserved and passed down, mutual economic and emotional assistance is offered, and even where the battle for social justice is waged and political power is mobilized. Although the various religious groups appear quite successful in these regards, one major challenge faced by many of the groups, not surprisingly, seems to be the issue of recruiting and retaining the second generation and beyond within the religious and ethnic fold. This seems to be as true for the Sikh Gurdwaras as it is for Japanese Buddhist religious organizations.
One interesting difference worthy of note among the organizations pivots around the question as to what extent these religions display a “conservative” function of encouraging separation of the ethnic communities from the larger society as “cultural sanctuaries,” and to what extent they help the immigrants integrate into Canadian life. For the Korean as well as the Japanese communities studied in this book in particular, the authors underscore the role these religions serve in reinforcing the cultural separateness of the immigrants. The authors however are quick to point out that although these religions may hinder national social cohesion, offering a “cultural oasis” is not necessarily bad for Canadian society overall, as the benefits these functions provide in helping immigrants adjust may outweigh the “costs.” In other words, “religious ethnic enclaves make Canadian society more flexible” (181). For groups like Tibetan Buddhists, on the other hand, such problems do not arise as issues since the vast majority of members are Canadian- or American-born or new non-Tibetan converts to Buddhism. These groups face, to the contrary, challenges of internal divisions, as the religions become divided along language lines (for example, between Mandarin-speaking Chinese adherents and English-speaking Canadian converts), and along the adherents to different gurus, as the Tibetan religious traditions emphasize the primacy of the guru. Another interesting case is that of the Asian Muslims in British Columbia, who, although the vast majority are South Asian in ethnicity, eschew dividing Islam along ethnic lines, seeking to create “new Muslim identities,” and a version of a universal ummah, within the context of the rituals and processes of Canadian multiculturalism.
All articles in this volume make informative contributions to the general portrait of British Columbian Asian religions. One shortcoming of the articles, of course, has been the necessity to sacrifice depth for breadth, but the volume is envisioned as a launching pad for further research. It would have been useful, for example, to hear more about gender dynamics within each of these communities as well, which almost always constitute a central issue in religions. Such quibbles aside, this is a well-crafted and readable addition to the growing literature on religions of Asian origins in North America.
Kelly H. Chong
University of Kansas, Lawrence, USA
pp. 124-126