Dr Martin MillsThe University of AberdeenSchool of Social ScienceSenior Lecturerwork+44 (0)1224 272622prefm.a.mills@abdn.ac.ukpref
Department of Anthropology,
G1 Edward Wright Building,
Kings College Campus
Department of Anthropology,
G1 Edward Wright Building,
Kings College Campus
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Biography
Dr. Martin A. Mills is Senior Lecturer in the Anthropology of Religion at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland and co-founder of the Scottish Centre for Himalayan Research. Author of Identity, Ritual and State in Tibetan Buddhism: The Foundations of Authority in Gelukpa Monasticism (Routledge 2003), his principal research focus is the anthropological study of Tibetan communities, in particular its religious and governmental institutions. Over the last twenty years, he has carried out fieldwork in Tibet, Ladakh, China, Northern India and Scotland.
Prior to coming to Aberdeen, Martin Mills taught anthropology at the School of African and Asian Studies at the University of Sussex, and at the universities of St. Andrews and Edinburgh.
In ethnographic terms, my primary research interest lies in the anthropology of Tibet and Tibetan-speaking areas, and in particular its religious and state life. Over the last two decades, this has involved a progression of research projects focused on the ceremonial nexuses of Tibetan monastic and state life.Such projects have involved the formulation of new ways in which modern ethnographers of Tibetan regions can integrate their work with textual specialists and indigenous scholars to create an historical anthropology of the region.
On the theoretical front, my work has increasingly engaged with anthropological approaches to the reality of the state in Tibetan areas, and to questions of violence, perception and constitutional mythologies. Each of these are engaged with more central questions of how we understand authority and legitimacy, both in the Tibetan context and elsewhere.
More recently, I have been carrying out research on Tibetan modes of protest. My personal blog on this can be found at www.tibetprotests.wordpress.com.
Since 2003, Mills has engaged in extensive research on the indigenous constitutional history of Tibet. This has involved three main areas of research: the study of the political history of the Ganden Podrang, the Dalai Lama's government at Lhasa from 1642 to 1959, and in exile since 1959; the philological study of medieval and modern manuscripts as they relate to Tibetan understandings of legitimate governance, in particular its own mythology of divine Buddhist kingship; and the ethnographic and historical study of the Ganden Podrang's ceremonial practices of statecraft.
At the heart of these issues is a theoretical concern with four issues:
The importance of ceremony and ceremonial understandings of statecraft - rather than mere belief - as the basis for the daily functioning and sovereignty of religious states.
The formation of mythological and constitutional and narratives as the basis for indigenous solidarities and political consciousness, both in the past and the modern day;
The study of indigenous relations with the land and landscape as an central aspect of ceremonial sovereignty.
The place of conflict and warfare in religious states such as historical Tibet.
As part of the Scottish Centre for Himalayan Research, Mills maintains a strong and productive relationship with the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center, one of the world's principal sources on indigenous Tibetan historical and religious manuscripts.
Mills, M. (2012). 'Ritual as History in Tibetan Divine Kingship: Notes on the Myth of the Khotanese Monks'. History of Religions, vol 51, no. 3, pp. 219-238.
[Online]DOI: 10.1086/662190
Mills, M. 'The Opposite of Witchcraft - Evans-Pritchard and the Problem of the Person'. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (N.S.), vol 19, no. 1, pp. 18-35.
Mills, M. (2009). 'Charting the Shugden Interdiction in the Western Himalaya'. Rivista degli Studi Orientali, vol LXXX, no. Supplement No. 2, pp. 251-269.
Mills, M. (2007). 'Re-Assessing The Supine Demoness: Royal Buddhist Geomancy in the Srong btsan sgam po Mythology'. Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, vol 3.
Mills, M. (2007). 'Whither the Straw Man? A Response to Toni Huber'. The Tibet Journal, vol 34, no. 4, pp. 47-56.
Mills, M. (2000). 'Vajra-brother, Vajra-Sister : Renunciation, Individualism and the Household in Tibetan Buddhist Monasticism'. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (N.S.), vol 6, no. 1, pp. 17-34.
[Online]DOI: 10.1111/1467-9655.t01-1-00002
Mills, M. (1998). 'In the Presence of the Teacher: Incarnate Lamas in Tibetan Buddhism'. Cosmos, pp. 179-209.
Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings
Chapters
Mills, M. (2009). 'La double figure du moine: Monachisme et maisons'. A Herrou & G Krauskopff (eds), in: Monka and nuns in the world: Monastic life in the mirror of kinship. Collection Religion et Sciences Humaines, Editions L'Harmattan, Paris, France, pp. 161-171.
Mills, M. (2009). 'This Circle of Kings: Modern Tibetan Visions of World Peace'. P Kirby (ed.), in: Boundless Worlds: An Anthropological Approach To Movement. Berghahn Books, New York, NY, USA, pp. 95-114.
Mills, M. (2008). 'Small Shoes and Painted Faces: Possession States and Embodiment in Buddhist Ladakh'. M Van Beek & F Pirie (eds), in: Modern Ladakh: Anthropological Perspectives on Continuity and Change. Brill Academic Publishers, Leiden, pp. 139-152.
Mills, M. (2006). 'The Silence in Between: Governmentality and the Academic Voice in Tibetan Diaspora Studies'. in: Critical Journeys: The Making of Anthropologists. Critical Journeys: The Making of Anthropologists, pp. 191-206.
Mills, M. (2005). 'Funeral Practices in Tibet'. in: Davies, D. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Cremation. Davies, D. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Cremation, pp. 398-399.
Mills, M. (2004). 'Living in Time's Shadow: Pollution, Purification and Fractured Temporalities in Buddhist Ladakh'. in: Qualities of Time, ed. W.James & D.Mills. ASA Monograph 41. Oxford: Berg.. Qualities of Time, ed. W.James & D.Mills. ASA Monograph 41. Oxford: Berg., pp. 349-366.
Mills, M. (2003). 'This Turbulent Priest: Contesting Religious Rights and the State in the Tibetan Shugden Controversy'. in: In: Human Rights in Global Perspective: Anthropological Studies of Rights, Claims and Entitlements. In: Human Rights in Global Perspective: Anthropological Studies of Rights, Claims and Entitlements, pp. 54-70.
Mills, M. (1997). 'The Religion of Locality: Local Area Gods and the Characterisation of Tibetan Buddhism'. T Dodin & H Rather (eds), in: Recent Research on Ladakh 7: Proceedings of the 7th Colloquium of the International Association for Ladakh Studies, Bonn/Sankt Augustin, 12-15th June 1995. Recent Research on Ladakh, M. Bernecker und B. Krause, Bonn, Germany, pp. 309-328.
Books and Reports
Books
Mills, M. (2003). 'Identity, Ritual and State in Tibetan Buddhism: The Foundations of Authority in Gelukpa Monasticism'. Unknown Publisher, Routledge Curzon.
Commissioned Reports
Mills, M. & Scrimgeour, R. (2010). 'Religious Policy and State Control in Tibet: Scottish Parliament Cross-Party Group on Tibet, Briefing Paper 3'. Scottish Parliament's Cross-Party Group on Tibet Briefing Papers, vol. 3, Scottish Parliament's Cross Party Group on Tibet.
[Online]AURA: Final4.pdf
Other Reports
Mills, M. (2008). 'The 2008 Protests in Tibet: Main Facts & Analysis'. Scottish Parliament's Cross-Party Group on Tibet Briefing Papers, vol. 1, Unknown Publisher.
[Online]AURA: Protests%20Briefing%20Paper%20v3a.pdf
Other Contributions
Mills, M. & Scottish Parliament's Cross-Party Group on Tibet (2009). 'Issues of Sovereignty in the Sino-Tibetan Dispute: Briefing paper No.2 of the Scottish Parliament's Cross-Party Group on Tibet'.
[Online]AURA: Sovereignty_Paper_c.pdf
Senior Lecturer
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+44 (0)1224 272622
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m.a.mills@abdn.ac.uk
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Department of Anthropology,
G1 Edward Wright Building,
Kings College Campus
