Melford Spiro's Buddhism and Society, published by Harper and Row in 1970, is a scholarly anthropological study of Theravada Buddhist practice in Burma, examining how doctrinal ideals interact with the lived religious life of ordinary Burmese Buddhists. Spiro was an established anthropologist of religion. Its strength is that it is grounded in Spiro's own extensive fieldwork and remains a standard reference in the anthropology of Buddhism. Its limit is that its fieldwork dates to the 1960s in a Burma that has since changed substantially, so a claim about contemporary Burmese Buddhist practice needs a more recent source alongside this study.
Facts
Assessment
Reliability Tier1
Published by Harper and Row as Melford Spiro's fieldwork grounded scholarly study by an established anthropologist of religion, treated at the top tier as standard anthropological scholarship. NotesScholarly study of Buddhism and society in Burma.
Citation
AuthorMelford E. Spiro
PublisherHarper and Row
Publication Year1970
Source TypeEthnography
Connections
Associated With
This source names Theravada directly: "a scholarly anthropological study of Theravada Buddhist practice in Burma, examining how doctrinal ideals interact with the lived religious life of ordinary Burmese Buddhists."
Source Buddhism and Society: A Great Tradition and Its Burmese VicissitudesMelford E. Spiro
Claims Backed By This Source (31 claims)
This source backs 31 claims across the atlas. As facts: 24 well-attested. As cited relationships: 5 holds. Plus 2 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Rituals, 19 claims: 14 well-attested, 4 holds, 1 general references.
- Sources, 8 claims: 7 well-attested, 1 holds.
- Empires & Polities, 3 claims: 2 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Articles, 1 claims: 1 well-attested.
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