Tashi, Kelzang T. (2021) The (un)changing karma: pollution beliefs, social stratification and reincarnisation in Bhutan. Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 22 (1). pp. 41-57. ISSN 1444-2213
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Abstract
Since the abolition of slavery and serfdom in 1958, Bhutanese society has been characterised by three social strata: big, medium and small people. Purity beliefs and practices are one of the crucial factors in this reconfigured stratification, which is entwined with the hierarchy of the well-ordered pantheon in relation to vulnerability to uncleanness. The big people feel threatened by the wrath of the gods/spirits of the low-level pantheon who are more vulnerable to pollution than their high-level counterparts. Indeed, the purity/impurity beliefs are only relevant because of their roles in offending these beings, thereby revealing two types of defilement: direct and indirect pollution. The effects of pollution beliefs in class-based Buddhist Bhutan are indirect, while they are direct in caste-based Hindu India. The big status is perpetuated by purity beliefs which are, in turn, embedded in ‘reincarnisation’—a process of upward social mobility.
Item Type: | Article |
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Official URL: | https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rtap20/current |
Additional Information: | © 2021 Informa UK Limited |
Divisions: | Anthropology |
Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BL Religion G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GN Anthropology H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races |
Date Deposited: | 12 Nov 2021 15:57 |
Last Modified: | 28 Sep 2024 02:03 |
URI: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/112602 |
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