Iselin Frydenlund

Research Interests

Background

Research Groups

• Regions and Powers
• Religion

PRIO Departments

• Ethics, Norms and Identities (1994-2011)
• Social Dynamics (2012-2022)

PRIO Projects

• Has Buddhism Something to Do with It? Buddhism, Politics and Conflict in Asia (project leader)
• Kataragama in a time of national crisis. Diversity and exclusion in a sacred place in Sri Lanka (project leader)
• The Sangha and its relation to the peace process in Sri Lanka

Events

• Wed, 25 November 2020 – Social Media in Armed Conflict: Conference Programme
• Thu, 06 Jun 2019 12:00-14:00 – Forgotten Conflicts - Hidden Trends
• Thu, 01 Nov 2018 12:00-14:00 – Cieng, Kafka, and Malcolm X: how southern Sudanese displaced people in Khartoum worked out what liberation might mean
• Mon, 27 August 2018 – Culture and Violent Conflict
• Wed, 05 Apr 2017 14:00-16:00 – Feltpresttjenesten: Norge i et globalt perspektiv
• Mon, 02 Nov 2015 13:00-14:30 – To End a Civil War: Norway's Peace Engagement with Sri Lanka
• Wed, 07 Oct 2015 10:00-14:00 – Does Buddhism Support Democracy? The Role of Buddhism in the 2015 Myanmar Elections
• Tue, 16 Jun 2015 13:00-15:00 – Insurgencies, Counterinsurgencies and the Question of 'Buddhist Violence'
• Wed, 13 May 2015 13:00-15:00 – Clash of Universalisms?
• Thu, 19 Apr 2012 12:00-14:00 – Talk the Talk or Walk the Walk? Religious Leaders in Peacebuilding
• Fri, 17 Sep 2004 18:30-21:00 – Civil War and Suicide Bombers

Publications

​LIST OF PUBLICATIONS

Dissertations and monographs

Doctoral Dissertation:

Frydenlund, Iselin (2011): “Canonical ambiguity and differential practices: Buddhist monks in wartime Sri Lanka”, Doctoral Dissertation, Faculty of Humanities, University of Oslo, Oslo (Monograph).

Cand. Philol thesis:

Frydenlund, Iselin (2003) “Kataragama in a time of national crisis. Diversity and exclusion in a sacred place in Sri Lanka”, University of Oslo.

Refereed journal articles

Frydenlund, Iselin (2013): “Religion, civility and conflict – towards a concept of critical civility’”, Studies in interreligious dialogue (23:1).

Frydenlund, Iselin (2004): «Buddhaer og bazukaer: motstridende bilder av vold og buddhisme på Sri Lanka», Din. Tidsskrift For Religion og Kultur.

Book chapters

Frydenlund, Iselin (forthcoming): ““The Invention of Buddhist Pacifism?”, in (eds) Huesken, Thikonov, Havnevik & Teeuwen, Buddhism and modernity.

Frydenlund, Iselin (forthcoming): “Particularist goals through universalist means: the political paradoxes of Buddhist revivalism in Sri Lanka” in ed. Kawanami, Hiroko: Buddhism and the political process.

Frydenlund, Iselin (2015) “’Operation dharma’: the Sri Lankan Army as an instrument of Buddhist nationalism”, in Military chaplaincy in a pluralist age, eds Torkel Brekke and Vladimir Thikonov. Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Frydenlund, Iselin (2013) "The Protection of Dharma and Dharma as Protection: Buddhism and Security across Asia", in The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Security, eds Chris Seiple, Dennis R. Hoover, and Pauletta Otis. London & New York: Routledge.

Frydenlund, Iselin (2012) "Canonical ambiguity and differential practices: Buddhism and militarism in contemporary Sri Lanka", in Violent Buddhism: Buddhism and Militarism in Asia in the Twentieth Century, eds Torkel Brekke and Vladimir Thikonov. New York: Routledge.

Frydenlund, Iselin (2005): ”Hør Her! Du som er fra Norge. Feltarbeidserfaringer fra et konfliktfylt Sri Lanka”. I: Kulturvitenskap i felt. Metodiske og pedagogiske erfaringer, Høyskoleforlaget, p.163-183 (on fieldwork in conflict areas and fieldwork ethics.

Publications in non-refereed journals

Frydenlund, Iselin (2004): ”Krig og buddhisme på Sri Lanka – en motsetning?”, PACEM Militært tidsskrift for etisk og teologisk refleksjon 7:2.

Frydenlund, Iselin (2001) «Kataragama: der et splittet Sri Lanka møtes», Tredjeverdenmagasinet X.

Reports

Frydenlund, Iselin (2014): Engaging with religion in peacebuilding: opportunities and pitfalls. PRIO report (2014), commissioned by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Frydenlund, Iselin (2005): The Sangha and its relations to the Peace Process in Sri Lanka. Oslo: Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO Report 2/2005).

Op.eds and media papers

Frydenlund, Iselin (22.03.2015) "Den sekulære selvmordsbomberen", op. ed. Dagbladet.

Frydenlund, Iselin (11.04.2014) “Ekspansiv humaniora” (on the role of the humanities), op.ed. Morgenbladet.

Frydenlund, Iselin, Anne Stensvold og Cecilie Endresen (19.01.2012) ”Et vitenskapelig studium av religion” («A scientific study of religion»), op.ed, Aftenposten.

Frydenlund, Iselin & Wenche Hauge (02.04. 2004) ”Valg i et fragmentert Sri Lanka”, Bergens Tidende.

ACADEMIC CONFERENCE PAPERS (last two years)

2014 “’I am proud not to vote!’ Political rights, legal pluralism and gender in Buddhist Sri Lanka”, International Law conference on “Human Rights and Legal Pluralism in Theory and Practice”, UiO.

2014 “Protecting Buddhism through Law”, joint public lecture with Prof. Gerhard van der Schyff (Tilburg) on Legal Pluralism and Human Rights, Faculty of Law, UiO.

2014 “Buddhist radicalism, religious violence and democratization in Myanmar”, public seminar at Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, UiO. 22. September.

2014 “Religion and law in Sri Lanka: the legal turn of Buddhist nationalism”, Conference on “Buddhism and Social Justice (NWO sponsored VICI project), led by Prof. J Silk, 23.-25. April.

2014 “A comparative note on religious dialogue”, Conference on “Religious minorities in Buddhist majority states”, University of Oxford, UK, 15.-16. March

2013 “Religion, civility and conflict – towards a concept of “critical civility”, 6th Annual Conference of the International Research Network on Religion and Democracy (IRNRD), Notre Dame University, Beirut, Lebanon, 11-12 December.

2013 “Pacifism as a modern Buddhist discourse?”, paper presented at the “Buddhist modernist conference” at UiO/IKOS, funded by PLUREL, 3-4 December.

2013 "Militant Buddhism: one the rise in Asia?", The Department of Ethnography, Museum of Cultural History, UiO.

2013 “’Operation dharma’: the Sri Lankan Army as an instrument of Buddhist nationalism”, paper presented at the PluRel conference Military chaplaincy in a pluralist age, UiO. 18-19 May.

2012 “Talk the Talk or Walk the Walk? Religious Leaders in Peacebuilding”, international PRIO conference.

2012 “Bruk av wiki i studentundervisning. Noen erfaringer fra grasrota”, Lecture at Department of Educational Research, Faculty of Educational Sciences, UiO.

List of popular science and user oriented dissemination (select)

2012 “When a pacifist religion goes to war: the role of religion in times of violent conflict”, at the Comprehensive Approach Seminar, Religion and Conflicts, NATO: Joint Warfare Centre (JWC), Stavanger, Norway.

2011 ”Public meeting on religion, war and reconciliation”, organized by The Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights and the University of Tromsø, Tromsø.

2011 "Bundet av fred - Norges rolle på Sri Lanka". Public debate on the role of Norway in Sri Lanka’s peace process, Faculty of Social Sciences, UiO.

2011 22. juli, ”Doktoren svarer: hvorfor støttet munker på Sri Lanka vold?”, Morgenbladet (interview).

Frydenlund, Iselin (7 December 2011) “Religion, civility and conflict: towards a concept of 'critical civility'”, blog entry at the PluRel blog, UiO.

2011 “The Island of Dharma: Sri Lanka as sacred land”, public lecture, Tamil Student Organization, NTNU.

2009 “Kataragama – a sacred place for reconciliation? Pilgrims in conflict-ridden Sri Lanka”, part of Exhibition program, Museum of Cultural History, UiO.

2008 “Celebration of Sri Lanka’s National Day”, national television, NRK.

2005 – 2014 Several radio interviews, National radio (NRK, Dagnsytt Atten), and concerning the Sri Lanka peace process, Buddhism and violence and Buddhist-Muslim tensions in South and Southeast Asia.

All Publications

Blog Posts