Fw: [buddhist-india] Seeking Interviews: those excluded or marginalized at Buddhist centers
Derek Heyman
I am looking for interview subjects who self-identify as having been excluded or marginalized by Western Buddhist monasteries or retreat centers because of their critical feedback about power figures and decision-making processes. I intend to collect these interviews in an academic book, and place them alongside canonical Buddhist texts, Buddhist histories, and feminist, psychoanalytic, and dialectical-materialist theoretical models to guide reflection on some of the ways that Western Buddhist institutions have related to the values of inclusivity and egalitarianism across gender, sexuality, race, class, and status.
Social exclusions and marginalizations in Western Buddhist institutions have never yet been a subject of academic study. My book will open the academic field of Buddhist Studies to social issues not yet on its radar, may perhaps contribute to discussions within Buddhist networks, and will, I hope, support the healing and empowerment of those who have been ostracised or marginalized. One of the most devastating aspects of such an experience can be the loss of friends and contacts, who in sectarian organizations often turn away from people excluded or delegitimized by those in power. Publication in an academic book might help those traumatized by this experience to find others able to hear and respect their voices.
If you identify as having been excluded or marginalized within a Buddhist institution, at least partly because of your critical response to power figures or processes of decision-making, I invite you to get in touch with me for a potential interview. You will be completely anonymous if you wish, with all names changed. My interest is in reflecting on institutional complexities and their effects on people, not in implicating individuals. There will be an honorarium, and perhaps also the sense that you would be helping Western Buddhism to hear its marginalized voices. I would ask to email, or preferably to Skype with you as a way of getting to know one another, and I would send you the interview questions beforehand – indeed I would love your feedback about them. Please email me at lhe...@icloud.com. Though I have never undertaken a project like this, I feel confident that I can help to co-create a wonderful book. I have published several academic articles, and have a book under contract with McGill-Queen’s University Press. But the real richness of the book will come from the interview subjects I find. I plan to conduct live interviews, though I live and work in Dubai. I will likely do so over the Winter holiday of 2017-18, and Spring and Summer of 2018.
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