New Books in East Asian Studies Kristina Jonutytė, "Between the Buddha and the New Tsar: Urban Religion and Minority Politics at the Asian Borderlands of Russia" (Cornell UP, 2026)
Apr 1, 2026
Kristina Jonutytė, social anthropologist studying contemporary Buddhism and minority politics in Eurasia, discusses urban Buryat Buddhism and its ties to the Russian state. She explores urban temple economies, everyday ritual practices, fieldwork challenges after 2019 and 2022, and how war and migration reshape Buryat identity and religious life.
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Urbanization Remade Buryat Buddhism
- Urbanization transformed Buryat Buddhism from a rural, temple-centered practice into a city-based, diverse field of lay-led practices.
- Kristina Jonutytė observed that Soviet-era urban migration left half of Buryats in cities, forcing temples and new lay institutions to reinvent Buddhist life there.
War Increased Precarity And Shrunk Cultural Space
- The 2022 invasion of Ukraine and ensuing repression intensified precarity in Buryatia and limited research access.
- Jonutytė notes disproportionate Buryat conscription reports and rising state presence that shrink public cultural and religious space.
Emigration Rewrote Personal National Identities
- Some Buryats who emigrated (to Mongolia or South Korea) now identify as Mongolian rather than Russian despite legal ties to Buryatia.
- Jonutytė recounts meeting migrants who reframe their national identity after living abroad and refusing to return to Russia.
