Jens Reinke, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University, talks about his recent book Mapping Modern Mahayana: Chinese Buddhism and Migration in the Age of Global Modernity (De Gruyter, 2021). The book presents a multi-sited ethnographic study of the global development of the Taiwanese Buddhist order Fo Guang Shan. It explores the order’s modern Buddhist social engagements by examining three globally dispersed field sites: Los Angeles in the United States of America, Bronkhorstspruit in South Africa, and Yixing in the People’s Republic of China. The data collected at these field sites is embedded within the context of broader theoretical discussions on Buddhism, modernity, globalization, and the nation-state. By examining how one particular modern Buddhist religiosity that developed in a specific place moves into a global context, the book provides a fresh view of what constitutes both modern and contemporary Buddhism while also exploring the social, cultural, and religious fabrics that underlie the spatial configurations of globalization.

Jens Reinke is Assistant Professor and Assistant Chair at the Religious Studies Department and Director of the Institute for the Study of Humanistic Buddhism at University of the West.
His research explores modern and contemporary Buddhism as practiced by ethnic Chinese all over the globe. Taking into consideration the dynamics of colonialism, globalization, and ethnic Chinese migration, Jens Reinke is particularly interested in exploring the manifold ways ethnic Chinese employ and adapt Buddhist ideas and practices to the contemporary era.
His recent book Mapping Modern Mahayana: Chinese Buddhism and Migration in the Age of Global Modernity, presents a multi-sited ethnography of Fo Guang Shan temples in Taiwan, Los Angeles, South Africa, and the People’s Republic of China. Mapping Modern Mahayana is published by De Gruyter.
His current research builds on the first book in that it continues to explore non-Western modern religiosities. Instead of focusing on one organization, however, this project explores Buddhist engagements that build an important inner-Asian transnational space. His second book, Buddhist Bricolages in the Southern Sinosphere: The Southbound Transnationalism of Taiwanese Buddhists, will explore translocative Buddhist entanglements between Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
Jens Reinke’s areas of expertise include Buddhism in sinophone societies worldwide, ethnic Chinese migration and diaspora, Buddhist border-crossings and mobilities, and Buddhism and global modernity.