Sometimes overlooked because of Buddhism's peaceful global image, militant Buddhist nationalist movements have produced significant violence. In Myanmar, Buddhist nationalist movements have driven the persecution of the Muslim Rohingya minority, including the mass expulsion of approximately 750,000 Rohingya to Bangladesh in 2017 (which the United Nations has characterized as genocide). In Sri Lanka, Buddhist nationalist movements played central roles in the long civil war with the Tamil minority (largely Hindu).

VIII. Women's Rights and Tradition

Women's status has been a central site of tradition-modernization tensions in most societies. Modernization typically expands women's legal rights, educational access, and economic participation. These changes often disrupt traditional family and gender arrangements and provoke backlash. Maria should be able to discuss the global pattern and several specific cases.