Osgoode Colloquium on Law, Religion & Social Thought Event: Practising Legal Pluralism across Many Lives: Monks and Multi-legality in Sri Lanka and Beyond

Please join us for the next event in the Osgoode Colloquium on Law, Religion & Social Thought. 

Speaker: Professor Benjamin Schonthal (University of Otago)

About this talk:

What can Buddhist monastics tell us about navigating legal pluralism in the world today? Why does legal pluralism produce conflict in some settings and compromise in others? Drawing on his new book—Courts, Constitutions and Karma— Schonthal explores the complex legal multiverse inhabited by Buddhist monks in contemporary Southern Asia, while also explaining how and why scholars should take heed of the ‘practices of legal pluralism’ that they employ.

Benjamin Schonthal is a Professor in the Religion Programme and Affiliate Professor in Law at the University of Otago in Aotearoa New Zealand, where he also co-directs the Otago Centre for Law & Society. His research examines how religion, law and politics intersect in South and Southeast Asia. His latest book is Courts, Constitutions and Karma: Buddhism, Law and Practices of Legal Pluralism in Sri Lanka (Cambridge, 2026).