Publication details
Evolution and revolution as exclusive concepts and interrelated processes in the history of East Asian religious systems
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| Year of publication | 2023 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | The focus of the conference was addressing an opposition between two labelled processes: evolution or revolution. This paper questions their intertwine from various scales and perspectives. In an interdisciplinary research of changing ethno-religious identities of East Asian societies, their internal processes can be approached by various combinations of scales, perspectives and methods: local vs. holistic, internal vs. external, analysis vs. participative observation, slow and high speed of development. This framework was used for evaluation of mutual relations of evolution/gradual development and revolution/sudden change. The analysis of collected East Asian data is combining interplays of: A) geographically related areas of Inner Asia with Korea, Vietnam and Mongolia; B) politically rather neutral framework of tributary relations; C) changing religious systems co-forming identities of ruling elite groups. First results from an ongoing project show that evolution or revolution can be even understood as one and same process seen from the viewpoints of mentioned scales, perspectives and methods. While particular aspects of religious change should be studied on observed examples and in case studies, a balanced view can only be reached by an analysis of areal developments from wider perspective. While within a small-scale-view it makes sense to claim that East Asian ethnic groups and their religious identities are slowly evolved or are undergoing a technical revolution, from wider perspective these processes are inseparable. Usually the revolution is slowly prepared by cumulation of conditions from wider environment and vice versa a “sudden” change is causing secondary developments in wider neighborhood. In holistic understanding, the results of this paper allow to conclude that the concepts of evolution and revolution are mutually exclusive on one side, but in fact they denote inseparable processes on the other side. |
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