James Mark Shields - Professor of Comparative Humanities and Asian Thought
Bucknell University
Long before the rise of Socially Engaged Buddhism, figures like Seno’o Girō (1889–1961) were already pushing for a radical Buddhist politics in Asia. Founder of the Youth League for Revitalizing Buddhism (Shinkō Bukkyō Seinen Dōmei), Seno’o fused Buddhism with socialism, anarchism, and anti-imperialism, aiming not to endure suffering but to transform the conditions that caused it. His vision of a “Buddhist revolution” was bold—and dangerous. In 1936, the League was crushed by the Japanese state; its leaders were arrested and forced to confess to political crimes. Yet Seno’o’s legacy endures. His fight against poverty, inequality, racism, and war remains urgent, especially in the face of new crises like climate change. Drawing from his lifelong diaries and newly translated essays, my recent work offers a philosophical biography of Seno’o. This talk examines the possibilities—and limits—of radical Buddhism then and now, through the lens of his extraordinary life.
James Mark Shields is Professor of Comparative Humanities and Asian Thought and Director of the Center for Sustainability and the Environment at Bucknell University (Lewisburg, PA). Educated at McGill University, the University of Cambridge, and Kyoto University, he researches modern Buddhist thought, Asian and comparative philosophy, Buddhist ethics, and political theory. He is the author of Critical Buddhism (Ashgate, 2011) and Against Harmony (Oxford, 2017), along with three edited volumes. His current work explores the intersections of Buddhism and radical political movements across Asia and the contemporary West. Ongoing projects include a digital portal on “radical Buddhism” and a biography of the Japanese Buddhist socialist Seno’o Girō.
