{"product_id":"near-light-we-shine-buddhist-charity-in-urban-vietnam-hardcover","title":"Near Light We Shine: Buddhist Charity in Urban Vietnam - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eSara Ann Swenson\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBuddhists in Vietnam are meeting humanitarian needs by popularizing charity. Vietnam's rapid urbanization has intensified social service demands while straining public infrastructure. In response, charity volunteers are building roads, subsidizing medicine, and giving away food. \u003cem\u003eNear Light We Shine\u003c\/em\u003e draws on two years of ethnographic research conducted in Ho Chi Minh City to analyse why and how people join these grassroots movements. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eVolunteers adapt practices from Vietnam's dominant religion--Buddhism--to attract donors and advocate for different programming styles. However, there can also be clashes over the ultimate purpose of philanthropy. Volunteers approach both Buddhism and altruism in different ways depending on their personal values and demographic communities. These communities include low-income day laborers, elderly women, Buddhist nuns, urban migrants, college students, and queer men. Volunteers promote altruism by citing the proverb, \"What is near ink, darkens; what is near light, shines.\" They use this axiom to distinguish themselves as good people \"with heart\" [\u003cem\u003eco tam\u003c\/em\u003e], whose charities are more caring and ethical than other organizations. Disputes over who practices true charity are rooted in different phenomenological and ontological experiences of how altruism influences the world. Volunteers promote distinct Buddhist cosmologies that are traditional, pro-socialist, sceptical, queer, modern, scientific, magical, and often at odds with one another. Altogether, people draw on Buddhism as an adaptable resource to build moral communities and transform the world. \u003cem\u003eNear Light We Shine\u003c\/em\u003e provides unprecedented insights into how Buddhism functions as a highly adaptable tool for people to build moral communities in Southeast Asia.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSara Ann Swenson\u003c\/strong\u003e is an Assistant Professor in Religion at Dartmouth College. She researches contemporary Buddhism in Vietnam. She holds a PhD and MPhil in Religion from Syracuse University, an MA in Comparative Religion from Iliff School of Theology, and a BA in English from the University of Minnesota Duluth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 240\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.88 x 9.53 x 6.48 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e December 15, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45383147257935,"sku":"9780197811863","price":176.29,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/3083\/3487\/files\/yRkxMx1LsC9780197811863.webp?v=1780214024","url":"https:\/\/lumaryon.com\/products\/near-light-we-shine-buddhist-charity-in-urban-vietnam-hardcover","provider":"Lumaryon Universal","version":"1.0","type":"link"}