*Conversion, Competition and Conflict—(Essays on the Role of Religion in Asia)* Edited by Dick Kooiman, Otto van der Muijzenberg and Peter van der Veer; Free University Press, Amsterdam, 1984.
The papers published in this volume were originally presented in a Seminar on 'Religion and Social Change in Asia'. All the essays are in fact case studies from three countries, India, Indonesia and Formosa. But what is common to them is their historical perspective. Religious, economic and political changes are observed in their intricate interrelationship in the societies under study.
Van der Veer in his study of Brahman priests (*Pandas*) in Ayodhya demonstrates how their supposed religious value of detachment was maintainable as long as they had a *Jajamana* system of relationship with elite patrons in the society. But as the pilgrimage system was commercialized by the entry of the ordinary people who were not in a position to enter into a *Jajamana* type of relationship with the *Pandas*, strife and mutual competition among the *Pandas* became the order of the day, resulting in a devaluation of the job of *Pandas*. In other words, religious values do change as a result of economic and political changes. Andre Wink, on the other hand, shows how the traditional religious systems at large remain very much autonomous and in their own way affect political changes, in his article on Religion and Politics in South Asia.
Similarly, other essays deal with political or economic conflicts and how religious forces work to the advantage of one group or the other. The last essay by Dick Kooiman 'The Gospel of Coffee' is a study of how certain entirely religiously motivated actions result in entirely unintended consequences of economic development.
In short as far as theory goes, both Marx and Max Weber come alive in the book. The volume is a valuable addition to our understanding of South Asian countries and the vital role religions play in their political and economic life, as well as the changes taking place in those religions themselves.
— A. M. Abraham Ayrookuzhiel
Bangalore