The Political Subject of Self-immolation

Michelsen, Nicholas

doi:10.1080/14747731.2014.971540

Cited by 10 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…The pictures we have of Thich Quang Doc come from the fact that an American journalist, Malcolm Browne, was tipped off that something would happen (Browne 2003). However, not all events have been clearly done for the media, for instance, Bouazizi's self-immolation appeared to be a personal protest before a magistrate's office (Michelsen 2015, 87–88). Nevertheless, attempts by the local media to block it saw it spread by social media resulting in a mass media event (Schraeder and Redissi 2011).…”

Section: Political and Public Self-immolation: Some Theoretical Perspmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, attempts by the local media to block it saw it spread by social media resulting in a mass media event (Schraeder and Redissi 2011). Indeed, it is often not the “intentions standing behind” the specific “self-incineration” that become important, which “play little role in determining political consequences” (Michelsen 2015, 87). Rather, what becomes significant is the way that the events are interpreted in the public sphere.…”

Section: Political and Public Self-immolation: Some Theoretical Perspmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is generally agreed that the tradition of self-immolation as political protest in the modern period begins in 1963 with the death of Thich Quang Doc (Michelson 2015, 86). This self-immolation on the streets of Saigon was in protest against the Vietnamese War and the oppression suffered by the Buddhist majority under Diem's Catholic regime supported by the United States (Hanh 1967).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This self-immolation on the streets of Saigon was in protest against the Vietnamese War and the oppression suffered by the Buddhist majority under Diem's Catholic regime supported by the United States (Hanh 1967). The international publicity and political effectiveness of this event led to a succession of further self-immolations, especially in Vietnam and the United States, as a continuation of this protest, but also inspired other protests in such places as Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Scotland, and France in the 1970s (see Biggs 2005; and Michelson 2015, 86). The 21st century has seen something of a revival, with images of human self-immolation, understood as political acts, being recorded around the world.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…That is those, widely witnessed and reported in the world's press at the time, which occurred in Tiananmen Square, Beijing in 2001. For instance, a recent study outlines the lineage from Thich Quang Doc to Bouazizi but entirely omits these (Michelsen 2015), while in studies of Falun Gong the events receive either passing mention or no mention at all, except for one recent study (Farley 2014). 1 This is, perhaps, not entirely surprising given that the Tiananmen Square self-immolations remain shrouded in controversy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Burning for a Cause: Four Factors in Successful Political (and Religious) Self-Immolation Examined in Relation to Alleged Falun Gong “Fanatics” in Tiananmen Square

Hedges

2015

Politics and Religion

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This article theorizes the self-immolation of alleged Falun Gong practitioners in Tiananmen Square in 2001 in relation to literature on martyrdom, self-immolation, and political protest. It explores the cultural context in relation to Buddhist traditions of self-immolation, Chinese political protest, and other uses of self-immolation as political protest. It will seek to expand the analysis of why these self-immolations may be said to have “failed” as a form of protest, and present a set of four key factors. Issues of legitimation and authority in the events and their representation will be raised, especially the contested nature of whether the self-immolations were “religious,” looking at the different meanings of this term in Chinese and Western contexts. It is argued that both secular and religious self-immolation can be seen as legitimate in the public sphere.

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Section: Political and Public Self-immolation: Some Theoretical Perspmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Political and Public Self-immolation: Some Theoretical Perspmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Burning for a Cause: Four Factors in Successful Political (and Religious) Self-Immolation Examined in Relation to Alleged Falun Gong “Fanatics” in Tiananmen Square

Hedges

2015

Politics and Religion

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Elements of Ritual and Violence

Kitts

2018

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Ritualized violence is by definition not haphazard or random, but seemingly intentional and often ceremonial. It has a long history in religious practice, as attested in texts and artifacts from the earliest civilizations. It is equally evident in the behaviors of some contemporary religious activists and within initiatory practices ongoing in many regions of the world. Given its longevity and cultural expanse, ritualized violence presumably exerts a pull deeply into the sociology, psychology, anthropology, theology, perhaps even ontology of its practitioners, but this is not transparent. This short volume will sketch the subject of ritualized violence, that is, it will summarize some established theories about ritual and about violence, and will ponder a handful of striking instantiations of their link.

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