Keeping Hold of the Jewel: Buddhist Youth Activism and Multidirectional Migration in Mountain Java

Abstract

The paper investigates the emergence of a youth organisation in rural Central Java and its relevance for the channelling of Buddhist revivalist stances in the Temanggung area. Rather than instantiating a linear “return”, the Buddhist revitalisation efforts promoted by the group materialise a novel religious scenario marked by a sharper influence of Theravāda Buddhism and a mélange of ethnocultural stances. More specifically, the paper intends to show how the formation of the youth organisation and the on-the-ground activities implemented reflect wider dynamics of internal mobility as well as new economic/entrepreneurial sensibilities.