Taiwanese religious communities and their internationalization strategies (guojihua) since the 1980s (A03)

本项目探讨台湾社区透过传教工作创造新的空间形式。台湾的宗教组织总部通过与世界各地的当地行动者互动，正在创造跨国空间，这一点在南非佛教组织佛光山和新宗教运动一观道的国际化战略中得到了体现。在分析这两个组织时，该项目探讨了跨国组织结构、理论和实践在其他社会文化背景下的转化以及中央控制和权力下放的动态。这项研究是在目前蓬勃发展的经济和政治科学研究的背景下进行的。

This project examines Taiwanese communities that are creating new spatial formats through their missionary work. The headquarters of the religious organizations in Taiwan are producing transnational spaces through interactions with local actors across the world, which is revealed by the internationalization strategies in South Africa of the Buddhist organization, Fo Guang Shan, as well as the new religious movement, Yiguandao. In analysing these two organizations, the project explores the transnational organizational structures, the translation of doctrines and practices for other socio-cultural contexts, and the dynamics of central control and decentralization. The study is placed within the context of the currently burgeoning economic and political science research on 'China in Africa'.