“불교는 강요하지 않잖아요”: 대학 내 경쟁적 종교 환경 내에서 불교학생회의 현황과 재생산 내러티브*

Abstract

Is the nature of Buddhism active or passive? Avoiding the essentialistic approach to Buddhism, from a sociological perspective, this study investigates how the Buddhist community interacts with society in a specific given context through the concrete case study. For this, the research of the current state of the organizations and the interview with the member was taken at three universities in Seoul area. These days, Buddhist student organizations are suffering the lethargy under the university’s religious environment which is considerable as a microcosm of the entire society. To understand this phenomenon, this study basically uses the conception of religious market theory, but for overcoming its limitations, the analysis of narrative shared among the members was taken. Consequently, the unique narrative of ‘Buddhists do not bother’, which is the main cause of the lethargy of Buddhist students was evaluated. This narrative might bring the positive effect which can attract a few newcomers into their gathering attaining some relative advantage in the university’s competitive religious environment. However, this narrative which is weighing and generalizing the skewed facet of Buddhism also frustrates the intention of active effort to improve the current situation in earliest stage, which eventually results in the repetitive lethargic management of organizations.