Pure Land in the Making: Vietnamese Buddhism in the US Gulf South

Abstract

ABSTRACTSince the fall of Saigon in 1975, Vietnamese Buddhists who resettled in the Gulf South have gathered for worship in rented apartments, mobile homes, converted garages, vacant offices, fishing camps, even vacant lots. They have also raised funds to build a number of temples, especially during the 2000s, in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. In the process, Vietnamese refugees and immigrants have built an indelible Buddhist presence in a region that previously knew little about this religion. How this presence came to be and what it meant in practice for the Vietnamese form the backbone of this important monograph by the anthropologist Allison Truitt.