The Theravada Buddhist engagement with modernity in Southeast Asia: Whither the social paradigm of the galactic polity?

Rationalizing influences of colonialism and modernity initiated far-reaching change in the conceptual and social orders of Theravada Buddhist societies of Southeast Asia. Certain contemporary Buddhist movements, best documented in Thailand, advocate visions of community, the nation-state, and religious ethics that transcend traditional cultural orders such as cosmological Buddhism and the associated galactic polity.