Research on SGI

Books

Encountering the Dharma: Daisaku Ikeda, Soka Gakkai, and the Globalization of Buddhist Humanism

by Richard Hughes Seager The University of California Press, 2006

This book considers the history of the Soka Gakkai and particularly its expansion to countries outside Japan under the leadership of Daisaku Ikeda. The author, an American professor of the history of religion, writes in a frank, engaging style which combines scholarly analysis with personal reflection.

Global Citizens: The Soka Gakkai Buddhist Movement in the World

Edited by David Machacek and Bryan R. Wilson Oxford University Press, 2001

Global Citizens is a study of the Soka Gakkai, containing academic research on the historical development of the organization, its involvement in politics and relationship with the Japanese media and the spread of the Soka Gakkai to North and South America, Europe and other countries in Asia.

The International Expansion of a Modern Buddhist Movement: The Soka Gakkai in Southeast Asia and Australia

By Daniel A. Metraux University Press of America, 2001

The book concerns itself with a particular geographic region and examines the Soka Gakkai in the context of other Japanese new religious movements "to determine why and how these uniquely Japanese religions have attracted such a culturally diverse following abroad."

Soka Gakkai in America--Accommodation and Conversion

by Phillip Hammond and David Machacek Oxford University Press, 1999

A study of SGI-USA that examines how the organization adapted to the peculiar circumstances of America's cultural life and showing how it became a very American phenomenon.

A Time to Chant--The Soka Gakkai Buddhists in Britain

by Bryan Wilson and Karel Dobbelaere Oxford University Press, 1994/ The Clarendon Press, 1998

A sociological study of SGI-UK activities by Bryan Wilson and Karel Dobbelaere, based on a demographic survey of the SGI-UK membership, augmented by individual interviews

The following are edited collections with chapters or sections pertaining to SGI

Buddhism in America

by Richard Hughes Seager Columbia University Press, 1999

Religious historian Richard Seager examines several Buddhist schools as they have taken root in America. SGI-USA is one of the groups examined in the book.

Buddhist Peacework--Creating Cultures of Peace

Edited by David W. Chappell Wisdom Publications, 1999

A collection of essays contributed by representatives of a wide range of Buddhist communities including the Dalai Lama, Robert Aitken and Thich Nhat Hanh. The essays report on grassroots Buddhist peace activities around the world. The book includes an essay by SGI President Ikeda on the SGI's peace movement and an outline of its doctrinal basis.

Engaged Buddhism in the West

by Christopher S. Queen Wisdom Publications, Boston, USA, 2000

A collection of essays examining the efforts and approaches of a number of Buddhist leaders and Buddhist organizations with the broader issues of society. It includes an essay entitled "Racial Diversity in the Soka Gakkai" by Professor David W. Chappell, cofounder of the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies.

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