Empowering Thai Nuns Towards Sustainable Development
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15765805Keywords:
Gender equality, Women empowerment, Mae Chees, Thai Nuns, Theravada Buddhism, Thai Buddhist nunneries, Thai Buddhism, religious feminism, sustainable developmentAbstract
Thai nuns, known as Mae Chee who shave their heads, don white clothing, and adhere to a monastic-like lifestyle, have an ambiguous status among Thai Buddhist practitioners. Despite their monastic-like lifestyle, they fall under the official category of laywomen (Upasika). Nevertheless, they are sometimes treated as monastics and some government agencies see them as renunciants, hindering them from receiving full benefits from either category. They encounter societal disadvantages and adverse stereotypes. Their living conditions are inadequate, with restricted options for studying and executing tasks. Scholars think that pursuing official monastic status or reinstating bhikkhuni ordination are the most effective methods to enhance the social standing of these underprivileged women. Religious feminist researchers are leading the cause with the singular aim of attaining equal status to male monastics, without regard for the actual consequence after that goal is realized. Nevertheless, their efforts have not been successful in improving their quality of life, even though they have been struggling for a long time. This research employs critical discourse analysis and thematic analysis of qualitative data obtained through interviews and observations to analyze these efforts through the lens of sustainable development, arguing that these ongoing efforts may not only hinder sustainable development but also push them towards greater subordination within the institutional patriarchy.
References
Battaglia, Lisa J. “Becoming Bhikkhunī Mae Chis and the Global Women’s Ordination Movement.” Journal of Buddhist Ethics, (2015): 1-22.
_____. Women Who Have Gone Forth: Thai Buddhist Nuns and the Debate Over Women’s Ordination. Saarbrücken: Scholars’ Press, 2014.
Bayeh, Endalcachew. The role of empowering women and achieving gender equality to the sustainable development of Ethiopia. Pacific Science Review B: Humanities and Social Sciences, 2016, 2.1: 37-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psrb.2016.09.013.
Boss, Lowell W. “The Female Renunciates of Sri Lanka: The Dasasilamattawa.” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies (1987): 7-31.
Collins, Steven, and Justin Mcdaniel. “Buddhist ‘Nuns’ (Mae Chi) and the Teaching of Pali in Contemporary Thailand.” Modern Asian Studies 44, no. 6 (2010): 1373–1408. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X09000079.
Cook, Joanna. “Alms, money and reciprocity: Buddhist nuns as mediators of generalised exchange in Thailand.” Anthropology in Action 15.3 (2008): 8-21. https://doi.org/10.3167/aia.2008.150302.
_____. Meditation in modern Buddhism: Renunciation and change in Thai monastic life. Cambridge University Press, 2010.
_____. “Hagiographic narrative and monastic practice: Buddhist morality and mastery amongst Thai Buddhist nuns.” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 15.2 (2009): 349-364.
Ebrahimi, R., Choobchian, S., Farhadian, H., Goli, I., Farmandeh, E., & Azadi, H. “Investigating the effect of vocational education and training on rural women’s empowerment.” Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 9.1 (2022). doi: 10.1057/s41599- 022-01187-4.
Ekachai, Sanitsuda. Keeping the Faith: Thai Buddhism at the Crossroads. Edited by Nick Wilgus. Bangkok: The Post Publishing Plc, 2001.
Esquivel, Valeria, and Caroline Sweetman. “Gender and the sustainable development goals.” Gender & Development 24.1 (2016): 1-8. doi:10.1080/13552074.2016.1153318.
Fairclough, Norman. Discourse and social change. Polity Press, 1992.
Falk, Monica Lindberg. Making fields of merit: Buddhist female ascetics and gendered orders in Thailand. No. 2. Nias Press, 2007.
_____. “Buddhism and resilience in post-tsunami Thailand.” Journal of Global Buddhism 22.1 (2021): 157-171. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4727600.
_____. “Gender, Buddhism and social resilience in the aftermath of the tsunami in Thailand.” South East Asia Research 20.2 (2012): 175-190.
Fredman, Sandra, Jaakko Kuosmanen, and Meghan Campbell. “Transformative equality: Making the sustainable development goals work for women.” Ethics & International Affairs 30.2 (2016): 177-187. https://doi.org/10.1017/S089267941600006X.
Gosling, David L. “The Changing Roles of Thailand’s Lay Nuns (Mae Chii).” Asian Journal of Social Science 26.1 (1998): 121-142. https://doi.org/10.1163/030382498X00102
_____.. “Thai monks and lay nuns (Mae chii) in urban health care.” Anthropology & Medicine 5.1 (1998): 5-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/13648470.1998.9964546
Gupta, Suraksha, et al. “Women empowerment: challenges and opportunities for sustainable development goals.” Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal 27.4 (2024): 608-630. https://doi.org/10.1108/QMR-11-2023-0160.
Hassan, Hend. “The relationship between gender equality, women empowerment and sustainable development.” New Trends in Sustainable Business and Consumption. (2020). 41-48
Huis, Marloes A., Nina Hansen, Sabine Otten, and Robert Lensink. “A Three-Dimensional Model of Women’s Empowerment: Implications in the Field of Microfinance and Future Directions.” Frontiers in Psychology 8 (September 28, 2017). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01678.
Knott, Eleanor, et al. “Interviews in the social sciences.” Nature Reviews Methods Primers 2.1 (2022): 73.
Khurshid, Ayesha. “Domesticated gender (in) equality: Women’s education & gender relations among rural communities in Pakistan.” International Journal of Educational Development 51 (2016): 43-50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2016.08.001
Kabilsingh, Chatsumarn. Thai Women in Buddhism. Berkeley: Parallax Press, 1991.
Lima, Raquel, and Graça Guedes. “Sustainable Development Goals and Gender Equality: A Social Design Approach on Gender-Based Violence.” Sustainability 16.2 (2024): 914. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16020914
Lohani, Meenakshi, and Loai Aburaida. “Women empowerment: A key to sustainable development.” The Social ION 6.2 (2017): 26-29.
Mahmood, Saba. “Feminist Theory, Embodiment, and the Docile Agent: Some Reflections on the Egyptian Islamic Revival.” Cultural Anthropology 16, no. 2 (2001): 202–36. http://www.jstor.org/stable/656537.
Muecke, Marjorie. “Female sexuality in Thai discourses about Maechii (‘lay nuns’).” culture, health & sexuality 6.3 (2004): 221-238. doi:10.1080/136910501141179.
Pratley, Pierre, and John Floyd Sandberg. “Refining the conceptualization and measurement of women’s empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa using data from the 2013 Nigerian demographic and health survey.” Social Indicators Research 140.2 (2018): 777-793.
Peach, Lucinda Joy. “Human rights, religion, and (sexual) slavery.” Annual of the Society of Christian Ethics (2000): 65-87.
_____. “Sex or Sangha? Non-normative gender roles for women in Thai law and religion.” Mixed Blessings. Brill Nijhoff, 2006. 25-60.
Prapaporn Muangkaew, Pornpawee Chuenjairuang, Pimradar Tummeepukdee, Worraphol Waengnork, Wilaiwan Boonrueng, Norenia Dao-ayen, Lived experience of elderly buddhist nuns living alone in northern Thailand. Suranaree Journal Of Science And Technology, 28 (01) (2021): 1-11
Rowlands, Jo. “A word of the times, but what does it mean? Empowerment in the discourse and practice of development.” Women and empowerment: Illustrations from the Third World. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 1998. 11-34. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-26265-6_2
Schneider, Nicola. “Gender Asymmetry and Nuns’ Agency in the Asian Buddhist Traditions.” Religions 14.2 (2023): 285. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14020285
Scott, Rachelle M. “Buddhism, miraculous powers, and gender-Rethinking the stories of Theravāda nuns.” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies (2010): 489-511.
Seeger, Martin. Gender and the Path to Awakening: Hidden Histories of Nuns in Modern Thai Buddhism. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 2018.
_____. “The Fragmentary History of Female Monasticism in Thailand: Community Formation and Development of Monastic Rules by Thai Mae Chee” Religions 13, no. 11 (2022): 1042. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13111042
_____. “The changing roles of thai buddhist women: obscuring identities and increasing charisma 1.” Religion Compass 3.5 (2009): 806-822.
Soharwardi, Mariam A., and Tusawar I. Ahmad. “Dimensions and determinants of women empowerment in developing countries.” International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning 15.6 (2020): 957-964. https://doi.org/10.18280/ijsdp.150620
Suwanbubbha, Parichart. “Development and Buddhism revisited: Arguing the case for Thai religious nuns (Mae Chee).” Development 46 (2003): 68-73. https://doi.org/10.1177/1011637003046004011
Tomalin, Emma. “Buddhist Feminist Transnational Networks, Female Ordination and Women’s Empowerment.” Oxford Development Studies 37 (2): (2009.) 81–100. doi:10.1080/13600810902859510
_____. “The Thai Bhikkhuni Movement and Women’s Empowerment.” Gender & Development 14 (3): (2006):385–97. doi:10.1080/13552070600980492.
Tansomboon, Mae Chee Amphai. “Awakening Thai Nuns: Wisdom and Successes.” Buddhist Virtues in Socio-Economic Development: (2011): 581-588
Van Dijk, Teun A. “Socio-cognitive discourse studies.” The Routledge handbook of critical discourse studies. Routledge, 2017. 26-43.
Yadav, Arvind Kumar, Bhavna Sahni, and Pabitra Kumar Jena. “Education, employment, economic status and empowerment: Implications for maternal health care services utilization in India.” Journal of Public Affairs 21.3 (2021): e2259. https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2259
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of International Buddhist Studies
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
