Thursday 5 June 2025 4:00pm
Online
About
Abstract
Tzu Chi Foundation is a transnational Taiwanese Buddhist charity active in all continents and with missions in almost 140 countries. Operating in areas with a Christian or Muslim majority, and in cultural contexts that are far from the Chinese/Asian (and Buddhist) frameworks implied the repositioning and translation of religious and Buddhist vocabularies to become accessible and understandable to non-Buddhist populations. In addition, locals and non-Buddhists from the Middle East to Africa and the Americans have joined Tzu Chi, embracing an inclusive Buddhist philosophy while maintaining their original beliefs and cultural systems.
This talk explores presence and activities of Tzu Chi in Africa, with focus on the areas of South Africa, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Zambia. Based on a long-term study of Tzu Chi and recent fieldwork and interviews, my study addresses the framework of Tzu Chi operations, their local legacy and communities, successes and challenges. This research also investigates what I call Tzu Chi tactics of women’s empowerment that have affected women’s self-confidence and position in the region.
About the speaker
Stefania Travagnin is Reader in Chinese Buddhism at the School of Oriental and African Studies, where she is also Chair of the Centre of Buddhist Studies. Her interdisciplinary research has explored Buddhism and Buddhists in modern China and Taiwan (from the late 19th century to today). She is co-director of the research project “Mapping Religious Diversity in Modern Sichuan,” initially supported by a Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation for International Exchange Research Grant (2017-2023), and studied Buddhist communities in Sichuan, especially nuns and nunneries in the late Qing and Republican era. Her current research project on Tzu Chi humanitarianism outside Asia is supported by the British Academy (2024-2025).
Travagnin has edited and co-edited several volumes, including Religion and Media in China: Insights and Case Studies from the Mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong (Routledge 2016), the three-volume publication Concepts and Methods for the Study of Chinese Religions (De Gruyter 2019-2020), and Buddhism and International Humanitarian Law (Routledge 2023); she is editor-in-chief of Review of Religion and Chinese Society..
About Frontiers of Faith
Frontiers of Faith is a multidisciplinary academic network (hosted by CRASSH) for scholars working on religion in the China-Africa space. Economic and political dynamics in this field have been central in scholarly and popular debates, but the complex cultural side of China-Africa encounters has been conspicuously absent. If factories, construction sites and mines have been the paradigmatic sites of China-Africa engagement, what can we learn from the small but increasing number of churches, monasteries and mosques on the complex and multifaceted ‘frontiers’ between Africa and China?
Visit the Frontiers of Faith web pages at crassh.cam.ac.uk for more information about their events programme including how to sign up to their mailing list.