Koen Wellens

• Hansen, Mette Halskov & Wellens, Koen (2026). Enlisting the Divine Farmer, Shennong: Spirituality, Science and Environmentalism in Taiwan. I Hansen, Mette Halskov & Nielsen, Kenneth Bo (Red.), Religion and Ecological Crisis: Responses from Asia. Leiden University Press. ISSN 9789087285081. s. 29–50. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Taiwan may well be the country in East Asia with the highest concentration of both religious groups and environmental organizations. Some religious organizations are expanding and redirecting their traditional focus on human centred salvation towards a universal transcendent goal of protecting and saving the planet. We take the worship of Shennong, the Divine Farmer, as an example. We show how one Divine Farmer temple has creatively sought to realign the spiritual powers of the Divine Farmer to address new challenges in people’s relationship to nature. We discuss how religious institutions seek to mobilise people for the environmental cause responding actively to society’s call for action and thereby simultaneously strengthening, or even re-establishing, their own social and emotional relevance.

• Wellens, Koen (2017). Resilient cosmologies: water deities and divine agency in post-Mao China. Anthropological Forum: a journal of social anthropology and comparative sociology. ISSN 0066-4677. 27(4), s. 365–381. doi: 10.1080/00664677.2017.1284042. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  This article explores ritual practices among the Premi people in Southwest China at the beginning of the new millennium. Living in the periphery of Tibetan, Han Chinese and other Tibeto-Burman ethnic groups, Premi villagers have continued to keep an understanding of how the world works that is markedly different from their neighbours. The all-encompassing economic development of China is posing new challenges to the intangible entities in Premi cosmology. In its management of forests, waterways or birth control, the Chinese state is increasingly interfering with Premi ways of dealing with their surroundings. The chapter proposes to focus on the way one category of intangible entities of Premi cosmology, the lwéjabu or water deities, are seen as acting towards these challenges, rather than on the underlying ontological changes. An event where a member of a neighbouring ethnic group becomes an unwitting participant in a Premi medium séance makes the case for approaching extra-human forms of agency by beginning with the ‘work’ or ‘effect’ of the divine entities.

• Wellens, Koen (2017). Failed Secularisation, New Nationalism and Governmentality: The Rise of Buddhism in Post-Mao China. I Havnevik, Hanna; Hüsken, Ute; Teeuwen, Marcus Jacobus; Tikhonov, Vladimir & Wellens, Koen (Red.), Buddhist Modernities: Re-inventing Tradition in the Globalizing Modern World. Routledge. ISSN 9781138687844. s. 151–164. doi: 10.4324/9781315542140-9. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  When Deng Xiaoping started his Reform and Opening Up (gaige kaifang) policies in 1978, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) also ushered in a period of tolerance for religious practice, guided by a strong modernist belief that religion would disappear by itself as a result of economic development. At the level of political ideology, the Chinese party-state continues to preach strict secularism and atheism. Nevertheless, at another level of discourse, there are indications that point in another direction, at least for Chinese Mahayana Buddhism. A speech by President Xi Jinping in March 2014 seemed to confirm the trend of the preceding decade towards an increasingly positive official appraisal of the role of Buddhism in Chinese society. The significance of this latest development is underscored by the multitude of Chinese articles appearing in Buddhist publications that optimistically herald a new era for Buddhism in China. This chapter argues – and in this way gives some credence to the optimism of Buddhist leaders and intellectuals – that the Communist Party, in line with its transition from a Marxist to a nationalist party, is now gradually relaxing its programme of secularism. In doing so, it is especially looking towards Buddhism, coopting it in the party’s gargantuan task of governing China, and at the same time allowing it to re-enter sectors of Chinese society that until very recently were strictly off limits to religion.

• Wellens, Koen (2013). The religious history of Muli. I Schaeffer, Kurtis R.; Kapstein, Matthew T. & Tuttle, Gray (Red.), Sources to Tibetan Tradition. Columbia University Press. ISSN 9780231135993. s. 605–607. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2012). Migrating Brothers and Party-State Discourses on Ethnic - Origin in Southwest China. I Huber, Toni & Blackburn, Stuart (Red.), Origins and Migrations in the Extended Eastern Himalayas. De Gruyter Brill. ISSN 9789004226913. s. 299–319. doi: 10.1163/9789004228368_016. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2009). Negotiable Rights? China's Ethnic Minorities and the Right to Freedom of Religion. International Journal on Minority and Group Rights. ISSN 1385-4879. 16(3), s. 433–454. doi: 10.1163/138819009X12474964197755. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2008). Religion, community and anthropological truth in Southwest China. Xinan minzu daxue xuebao. ISSN 1004-3926. s. 1–4. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2006). Zaifang Zhongguo xinanbu de naxizu. Xibei minzu yanjiu. ISSN 1001-5558. 3. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv

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• Hansen, Mette Halskov; Thøgersen, Stig & Wellens, Koen (2018). Kina - stat, individ og samfunn (3. utgave). Universitetsforlaget. ISBN 9788215030760. 264 s. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Havnevik, Hanna; Hüsken, Ute; Teeuwen, Marcus Jacobus; Tikhonov, Vladimir & Wellens, Koen (2017). Buddhist Modernities: Re-inventing Tradition in the Globalizing Modern World. Routledge. ISBN 9781138687844. 302 s. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  The transformations Buddhism has been undergoing in the modern age have inspired much research over the last decade. The main focus of attention has been the phenomenon known as Buddhist modernism, which is defined as a conscious attempt to adjust Buddhist teachings and practices in conformity with the modern norms of rationality, science, or gender equality. This book advances research on Buddhist modernism by attempting to clarify the highly diverse ways in which Buddhist faith, thought, and practice have developed in the modern age, both in Buddhist heartlands in Asia and in the West. It presents a collection of case studies that, taken together, demonstrate how Buddhist traditions interact with modern phenomena such as colonialism and militarism, the market economy, global interconnectedness, the institutionalization of gender equality, and recent historical events such as de-industrialization and the socio-cultural crisis in post-Soviet Buddhist areas. This volume shows how the (re)invention of traditions constitutes an important pathway in the development of Buddhist modernities and emphasizes the pluralistic diversity of these forms in different settings.

• Wellens, Koen (2010). Freedom of religion or belief in China: Experiences from the Sino-Norwegian human rights dialogue. Unipub forlag. ISBN 9788274774971. 115 s. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2010). Religious Revival in the Tibetan Borderlands: The Premi of Southwest China. University of Washington Press. ISBN 9780295990699. 288 s. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv

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• Nielsen, Kenneth Bo & Wellens, Koen (2026). Spirituality, Science and Environmentalism in Taiwan - New Books Network. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Who is Shennong, the Divine Farmer? And how can he help us understand the intricate relationships between spirituality, science and environmentalism in Taiwan today? These questions are at the heart of new research by the University of Oslo’s Koen Wellens and Mette Halskov Hansen. In this episode, we are joined by Koen Wellens for a conversation on religious responses to environmental change, community temples, and reconnecting to nature via the Divine Farmer in the context of contemporary Taiwan.

• Wellens, Koen (2024). Kina raser etter Xinjiang-kommentar. [Internet]. abc nyheter. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2024). Valg i Taiwan: Jeg tror ikke folk flest forstår situasjonen. [TV]. TV2. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen & Hansen, Mette Halskov (2023). Spiritually Inspired Environmental Movements in Asia: Local Practices, Universal Potential? Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koenraad (2022). Hva bør Norge gjøre med sitt forhold til Kina? Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Hvis Kina vil gjøre seg fortjent til den status og respekt de ønsker i verden, er en imponerende økonomi og et sterkt militærvesen ikke tilstrekkelig. Myndighetene kan oppnå mer ved å være åpne for kritikk og diskusjon om brudd på menneskerettigheter. Isteden følger de impulsen til å ta offerrollen og reagere med fornærmelse eller fornektelse. Men flere land må være villige til å ta risikoen det er å være tydeligere i dialogen med Kina. Er Norge ett av dem?

• Wellens, Koen (2022). Kinesisk partitopp-utspill om Russland ties i hjel av offisielle kanaler i Kina. [Journal]. Aftenposten. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen & Hansen, Mette Halskov (2022). Hva bør Norge gjøre med sitt forhold til Kina? Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2022). Historien om Den himmelske freds plass. [Internet]. Universitetsplassen – en podkast fra UiO. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen & Flikke, Geir (2022). Xi og Putin – partnerskap på prøve. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2022). All makt til folkets mann. [Journal]. Dag og tid. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Hansen, Mette Halskov; Wellens, Koen; Münster, Daniel & Baviskar, Amita (2021). Transcendence and Sustainability: Asian Visions with Global Promise. Panel presentation and discussion. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Are spiritually and religiously inspired environmental movements in Asia largely overlooked as an essential contribution to the global goal of environmental sustainability? Presentation of a new international project based in China, India, Taiwan and Vietnam

• Wellens, Koen (2021). Fra bakland til brennpunkt: Undertrykkelsen av uigurene har på få år blitt kime til en storpolitisk, internasjonal strid. [Journal]. Klassekampen. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2021). Står bak Trump-vennlig nettsted: − De tror Trump ble sendt fra himmelen. [Journal]. VG. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2020). Indigeneity and environmental resource management in Taiwan: what can we learn from Tsou boar hunting? Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2020). Coronaviruset: Falske bilder florerer. [Journal]. Dagbladet. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2019). Protester i Hong Kong. [TV]. TV2 Nyhetskanalen. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2019). Urix spesial. [TV]. NRK. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2019). Et lite stykke kinesisk manipulasjon. [Journal]. Dagbladet. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2018). EDUCATING MONKS: Minority Buddhism on China’s Southwest Border / By Thomas A. Borchert. Pacific Affairs. ISSN 0030-851X. 91(3). Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Kaland, Ole Johannes; Adiljan, Abdurihim; Wellens, Koen & Folkvord, Gerald (2018). Re-education. Surveillance, repression and forced assimilation of minorities in today’s China. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2017). War Ceremonies and Boar Hunting in a Tsou Community in Taiwan: Living Indigeneity in Global East Asia. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  How can small indigenous communities be resilient as culturally distinct entities in a globalised modern nation-state? Today Taiwan constitutes an economically advanced, democratic state with rather well developed institutional protection of the rights of its indigenous people. After several centuries with different regimes of assimilationist policies, today sixteen tribes are recognised by the state as indigenous people. Some 530,000 people or 2.3% of Taiwan’s population claim Austronesian ancestry and have now been granted opportunities to express, revive or even reinvent what they consider to be their indigenous culture. This research project studies how members of one such community belonging to the Tsou tribe are living, expressing and negotiating divergence from the majority Han Chinese culture. Conceptualising indigeneity as a fluid and dynamic form of interaction between Tsou people and the state, the majority Taiwanese as well as between each other, the project is mainly focusing on three arenas of indigeneity: the annual public performance of the Mayasvi or War Ceremony, the practice of hunting and conflicts related to hunting rights, and local initiatives at language revival through singing.

• Wellens, Koen (2017). The New State Religion of the Middle Kingdom? Chinese Mahayana Buddhism under Xi Jinping. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  During the more tolerant years of its rule, the Chinese Communist Party considered religion to be an outdated social phenomenon that would naturally disappear when people became more prosperous and better educated. In radical periods, political impatience led to temples and churches being destroyed, monasteries emptied and clergy mistreated. To understand the increasingly positive assessment of Chinese Mahayana Buddhism by the Chinese political leadership in recent years we might have to look beyond Communist secularist doctrine and obtain clues from both China’s imperial past and its present nationalist aspirations.

• Wellens, Koen (2017). Trump møter Xi i Beijing -- Før gigantmøtet: Året der Kina festet grepet. [Journal]. Dagbladet. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2017). Kinas mektige mann er blitt enda mektigere: - Mye foregår bak lukkede dører. [Journal]. Dagbladet. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2017). Forbyr slør og skjegg: Strammer grepet om muslimsk befolkning. [Journal]. Dagsavisen. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2014). Kina frykter smitteeffekt. [Journal]. Dagsavisen. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2013). Kina gir religiøse mer rom. [Journal]. Vårt land. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2012). PASSAGE TO MANHOOD: Youth Migration, Heroin, and AIDS in Southwest China. Pacific Affairs. ISSN 0030-851X. 85(1), s. 188–189. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2012). Slik sliter kinesiske arbeidere for å bli ferdig med verdens julegaver. [Internet]. Dagbladet.no. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2012). Challenges of bilingual education for ethnic minorities in China. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2012). Challenging the Universality of Water-deities: Local Cosmology and Natural Resources in South West China. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2011). Minority Rights Discourse and Religious Revival in Southwest China. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2011). Den store byvandringen. [Internet]. Dagsavisen. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2011). Kina i dag: menneskerettigheter, rettsikkerhet og politisk utvikling. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Bakke, Cecilie Figenschou & Wellens, Koen (2011). "Menneskerettigheter i Kina: Dialog, samarbeid og veien videre". Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2011). Ofre for kinesisk byggeboom. [Journal]. Dagsavisen. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2011). Kina: Hu Jia løslatt. [Journal]. Vårt land. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2010). Bryr seg ikke. [Journal]. Bergens tidende. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2010). Verdibørsen. [Radio]. NRK. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2010). Kinas mange ansikter. [Journal]. Perspektiv. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2010). Elite histories: How Muli became Tibetan. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2010). Nobels fredspris temadag. [Radio]. NRK P2. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2010). Amnesty mener kinesisk politi bruker tortur i avhør. [Internet]. TV2nyhetene.no. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2010). Kina - kinesernes krav og kommunistpartiets legitimitet. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2010). Menneskerettigheter i Kina. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2009). Synkretisme: et nyttig begrep? Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2009). Etnische minderheden en godsdienstvrijheid in China. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2009). Ritual and relatedness in Southwest China: The Premi House. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2009). Kina: Menneskerettigheter og andre utfordringer. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2008). OL kan gjøre millioner stoltere, lykkeligere og friere. [Internet]. Dagbladet.no. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2008). Recent human rights developments in China. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2008). Dette frykter Kina mest. [Internet]. ABCnyheter. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2008). Frykter flere terroraksjoner under OL. [Internet]. Dagbladet.no. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2008). Kina langsomt på rett vei. [Journal]. Klassekampen. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2008). Varsler nettrevolusjon i Kina. [Journal]. Aftenposten. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2008). Olympisk stress syndrom. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2008). Neither Buddhists nor barbarians: Contesting discourses on the origins of the Xifan in Southwest China. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2008). Tror ikke OL gir økt ytringsfrihet. [Journal]. Journalisten. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2008). Fengslende meninger. [Journal]. Nationen. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2008). Kina vil ha PR-hjelp. [Journal]. VG. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2008). Ser på buddhister som en trussel. [Journal]. Dagsavisen. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2008). I ilden igjen. [Journal]. Klassekampen. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2008). Religionsfrihet og minoritetsrettigheter i Kina. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2008). Dalai Lama ber folket besinne sig. [Journal]. Dagsavisen. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2008). Slik er Kina blitt mer åpent. [Journal]. Vårt land. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2008). Dette er spill for galleriet, sier Rafto-prisvinner Rebiya Kadeer til Dagbladet.no. [Internet]. Dagbladet.no. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2008). Autonomy and minority religion in China. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2008). Nyreligiøsitet i Kina etter Mao. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2008). Tror flere vil komme til. [Journal]. VG. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2008). Hele Kina i sorg. [Journal]. Klassekampen. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2008). Nyheder: interview om menneskerettigheter i Kina og meningen med boikott. [TV]. TV2. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2008). Økonomisk misnøye bidro til Tibet-opptøyene. [Journal]. Uniforum. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2008). P2 Musikkredaksjonen: indlæg om kinesisk forbudt mod fremføring af Mozarts Requiem. [Radio]. P2. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2008). Verdibørsen. [Radio]. NRK P2. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2007). Etniske minoriteter og religionspolitikk i Kina. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2007). Det Kina ikke vil snakke om før OL. [Journal]. Dagbladet. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2007). Ikke troverdig beskrivelse. Aftenposten (morgenutg. : trykt utg.). ISSN 0804-3116. s. 5–5. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2007). Religion, community and anthropological truth in Southwest China. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2007). Book review: Ethnic distinctions, local meanings: negotiating cultural identities in China. By Mary Rack. Anthropos: Internationale Zeitschrift für Völker- und Sprachenkunde. ISSN 0257-9774. 102(1), s. 286–287. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Bakke, Cecilie Figenschou & Wellens, Koen (2006). Dialog med Kina - nytter det? Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2006). Skjer det endringer i Kinas praktisering av menneskerettighetene? Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2006). Land rights as human rights in China. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2006). Land and subsistence in Western China: preliminary results from local studies in Guangxi, Yunnan and Sichuan. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2006). Minoriteters rettigheter i Kina. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2005). Nyheter. [Radio]. NRK. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Interview om Rebiya Kadeers løslatelse

• Wellens, Koen (2005). Ikkje uproblematisk å kritisera Kina. [Journal]. Uniforum. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2004). Religion, kinship and politics on Tibet's eastern frontier. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wellens, Koen (2006). Consecrating the Premi house: ritual, community and the state in the borderlands of East Tibet. Universitetet i Oslo. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv

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