Introduction

Decolonisation has become an emerging term throughout the humanities, asking also for responses from the study of religion. Identity in recent years has entered cultural and religious discourses in a new way, challenging the study of religion to accommodate identities as parameters of religiosity and scholarly approaches. As a transnational religion studied in both ‘East’ and West’ for centuries, Buddhism is an obvious case for empirical analysis and theoretical reflection on the converging topics of decolonisation and identity. This introductory chapter introduces the theme and outlines the content of the book.