10 Matthew J. Walton and Susan Hayward Monastic Mobilization in Myanmar Since 2011, Myanmar’s monks and nuns have responded to the political transition in ways that have fostered and supported the reform and peace efforts, as well as driven conflict and bolstered exclusionary attitudes that feed violence. Their mobilization in response to political, social, and economic dynamics in the country has a great deal of historical precedent. As in other Asian Buddhist contexts, in ancient Burmese kingdoms there was a relationship of patronage between the ruling monarchy and sangha (the monastic community). British colonial rulers, however, sought to separate the political and religious realms, refusing to appoint a head of the sangha, a duty that had typically been the responsibility of the king. Due to this absence of central authority, many Buddhists claimed to see a moral decline in the monastic community. This perceived weakening of Buddhism, in concert with Christian missionizing, fueled a Burmese nationalist and Buddhist revival movement in the early twentieth century, spearheaded by several prominent Buddhist monks.10 During the brief parliamentary period following independence in 1948, Buddhist ideas were more prominent in the political realm, especially in the speeches and policy prescriptions of U Nu, the country’s first prime minister. The military regime, which took power in 1962 to stabilize the country in the face of violent rebellion by ethnic minority groups, sought to implement socialist rule loosely grounded in Buddhist moral teachings (Walton 2012). While Buddhism receded from the public sphere for the first few decades of military rule, successive military governments also relied on the legitimating potential of Buddhist acts, such as building religious structures and visibly patronizing monks.11 Despite severely repressive policies in other areas, the military governments, nonetheless, acted as proper Buddhist rulers should by creating opportunities for Buddhism to thrive. This gave them some degree of legitimacy in the face of general popular discontent (Jordt 2007). Current monastic political mobilization can be seen, in some ways, as an extension of monastic efforts to be responsive to community needs during the era of military rule. While some monks served on the government-appointed Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, established in 1980 to consolidate state control over the diffuse monastic orders,