Edited Volumes by Philip Fountain
Manchester University Press, 2020
This innovative and timely reassessment of political theology opens new lines of critical investi... more This innovative and timely reassessment of political theology opens new lines of critical investigation into the intersections of religion and politics. Political Theologies and Development in Asia pioneers the theo-political analysis of Asian politics and in so doing moves beyond a focus on the (Post-)Christian West that has to date dominated scholarly discussions on this theme. It also locates 'development' as a vital focus for critical investigations into Asian political theologies. The volume includes contributions by leading anthropologists, sociologists, and political scientists. Each chapter brings new theoretical approaches into conversation with detailed empirical case studies grounded in modern Asia. Not only does the volume illustrate the value of this approach to a diverse set of Asian societies and religions, but it also provides a forceful argument for why political theology itself requires this broader horizon to remain relevant and critical.
The Mission of Development: Religion and Techno-Politics in Asia, 2018
The Mission of Development interrogates the complex relationships between Christian mission and i... more The Mission of Development interrogates the complex relationships between Christian mission and international development in Asia from the 19th century to the new millennium. Through historically and ethnographically grounded case studies, contributors examine how missionaries have adapted to and shaped the age of development and processes of ‘technocratisation’, as well as how mission and development have sometimes come to be cast in opposition. The volume takes up an increasingly prominent strand in contemporary research that reverses the prior occlusion of the entanglements between religion and development. It breaks new ground through its analysis of the techno-politics of both development and mission, and by focusing on the importance of engagements and encounters in the field in Asia.
Sites, 2019
This is the table of contents for the special issue on 'Christianity and Development in the Pacif... more This is the table of contents for the special issue on 'Christianity and Development in the Pacific' edited by Philip Fountain and Geoff Troughton. https://sites.otago.ac.nz/Sites/issue/view/46
COVER BLURB: This is a book about how New Zealanders have been inspired by visions for peace. Foc... more COVER BLURB: This is a book about how New Zealanders have been inspired by visions for peace. Focusing on diverse Christian communities, it explores some of the ways that peace has influenced their practices, lifestyles and politics from the Second World War to the present—the period in which New Zealand’s peaceable image and reputation as ‘God’s Own Country’ grew and flourished. New Zealand Christians and others have worked for peace in many different ways, from attention-grabbing protests against nuclear weapons, apartheid and war, to quieter but no less important efforts to improve relationships within their churches, communities and the natural environment. Taken together their stories reveal a multifaceted but deeply influential thread of Christian peacemaking within New Zealand culture. These stories are by turns challenging and inspiring, poignant and amusing, and they continue to reverberate today in a world where peace remains elusive for many.
CONTENTS
1. Introduction: Pursuing Peace in Godzone -- Geoffrey Troughton and Philip Fountain. 2. Barrington, Burton and the Challenge of Christian Pacifism in New Zealand -- Tom Noakes-Duncan. 3. A Historic Peace Church in Aotearoa New Zealand: Quakers and their Heritage -- Elizabeth Duke. 4. The Peace Squadron Revisited -- George Armstrong. 5. Revolution at the Kitchen Tables: Churches and the 1980s Peace Movement -- Peter Matheson. 6. The Treaty, the Church and the Reconciliation of Christ -- Karen Kemp. 7. Taranaki, Coventry and the Paths of Peace and Reconciliation -- Jamie Allen. 8. Maungarongo ki te Whenua: Te Ora Hou Making its Peace -- Mike Ross, Manu Caddie, Jono Campbell, and Judy Kumeroa. 9. Icons of Peace -- John Chote. 10. Missionary Peacemaking: New Zealand Activists and the Decolonisation of Southern Africa -- Pamela Welch. 11. Migrant Peacemakers? African Pentecostals in New Zealand -- Dorcas Dennis. 12. Ploughshares at Waihopai -- Adi Leason. 13. Restoring Karioi: Ecology, Community and the Practice of Peace -- Andrew Shepherd. 14. Are Contemporary Christian New Zealanders Committed to Peace? -- John H. Shaver, Chris G. Sibley, and Joseph A. Bulbulia. 15. Remembering Jesus on Anzac Day: Just War or Just Another War? -- Chris Marshall. 16. Afterword: Christianity and Peace in New Zealand -- Geoffrey Troughton and Philip Fountain.
The articles in this special issue explore the complex dynamics at play in the intersections of r... more The articles in this special issue explore the complex dynamics at play in the intersections of religion and disaster relief in contemporary Asia. This special issue is premised on the conviction that the relationships between religion and disaster relief - salvage and salvation - are good to think and theorize with as we work toward understanding the complexity and dynamic of diverse religious traditions in Asia.
Religion and the Politics of Development , 2015
This special issue seeks to provide greater attention to the neglected intersection between relig... more This special issue seeks to provide greater attention to the neglected intersection between religion and disaster relief as an intellectually compelling field of study and as a domain deserving consideration among practitioners and policy makers. This special issue begins with an interview with representatives of prominent humanitarian organizations, all of whom call for greater attention to the work of religious actors in disaster relief. The following case studies provide a textured empirical analysis of religious responses to disasters in contemporary Asia. By attending to particular contexts it is shown that religious actors can and do play important yet complex roles in relief processes.
This special issue responds to Joel Robbins' analysis of the ‘awkward’ relationship between anthr... more This special issue responds to Joel Robbins' analysis of the ‘awkward’ relationship between anthropology and theology and his provocative suggestion that anthropological engagements with theology might reinvigorate the discipline. Through diverse case studies the papers in this collection open up space for new conversations between the two disciplines.
Articles by Philip Fountain
American Ethnologist, 2024
The anthropology of humanitarianism has, for at least the last few decades, been something of a t... more The anthropology of humanitarianism has, for at least the last few decades, been something of a theoretical powerhouse in the broader discipline. It is marked by incisive publications that provoke profound ethical reflection on the challenges of attempting to do good in a world troubled by crisis (e.g., Bornstein & Redfield, 2011; Fassin, 2011; Redfield, 2013; Ticktin, 2014). This ethical “edge” places the problem of humanitarianism at the center of cultural anthropology. One reason for this is that humanitarianism poses the question of humanity—the anthropos—in decidedly raw and gritty ways. In humanitarianism we are confronted with challenging questions about violence and peace, care and suffering, generosity and moral callousness. Conditions of pain, hope, and struggle are vital and perennial concerns that cut close to the heart of the condition—and precarity—of being human. But while humanitarianism is indeed a compelling subject, this alone does not explain how it has accumulated such a vibrant anthropological scholarship. I think a key reason this is so is that many anthropologists assume a closeness between anthropological politics and humanitarian endeavors. After all, anthropologists’ work is global in scope and often concerned with marginal places. It is, moreover, infused with moral visions of alternative futures; inspired by spiritual quests for a this-worldly salvation; and bogged down in all-too-believable institutional, national, and capitalist politics. Thus, anthropologists readily recognize something of our own conundrums—our aspirations and our failings—as we peer into the adjacent worlds of humanitarianism.
Counterfutures, 2023
A popular view of contemporary New Zealand politics is that it is devoid of ‘religious’ dynamics,... more A popular view of contemporary New Zealand politics is that it is devoid of ‘religious’ dynamics, but the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic showed that religious ideals, cosmological paradigms, doctrinal discourses, and ritual practices continue to shape political processes. This article analyses themes of transcendence and the sacred in the government’s handling of the Covid pandemic, themes that became fundamental to the daily management of the pandemic and its various effects. Drawing on scholarship on political theology, this article explores ideas of solidarity, sacrifice, sovereignty, and the iconic to facilitate a better understanding of the contestations over governance during a time of crisis.
A pdf of the paper is available in open access on the Counterfutures journal website: https://counterfutures.nz/14/Fountain.pdf
The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs, 2023
The question of the location of religion in the public sphere is always a matter of the logics, p... more The question of the location of religion in the public sphere is always a matter of the logics, practices, and politics of secularism. While mythologies of a linear secular teleology have been thoroughly critiqued, the ongoing trajectories for both religious and secular politics are contested and emergent. New Zealand provides an important context for examining these dynamics. While New Zealand is frequently referenced as among the most secular nations in the world, with census data tracking a precipitous disaffiliation from Christianity and a concomitant rapid increase in ‘non-religion’, the actual situation is in considerable flux. A crucial dynamic is the combination of an indigenous Māori cultural renaissance and state attempts to recognise the moral imperative of decolonisation which have resulted in new languages of spirituality shaping both law and politics. Diverse religious groups have also occupied prominent spaces in shaping public concern and setting new agendas for national life. This paper traces the emerging contours of this dynamic religious context and the contributions of religion and spirituality in shaping political leadership in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Journal of Mennonite Studies, 2022
The centennial anniversary of the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is an occasion for festive ce... more The centennial anniversary of the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is an occasion for festive celebration. Founded in 1920 in Elkhart, Indiana, MCC evolved into a large and complex relief, development, and peacebuilding organization. Over its one hundred years, MCC has left a profound mark on North American Mennonites, including decisively shaping their identity as a “people of service.” MCC bridged vast geographical and cultural gaps by providing spaces for interaction and exchange including facilitating service opportunities for Mennonites in far-flung places around the world and supporting initiatives in Canada and the United States. Turning one hundred is no small achievement. In this paper, we take advantage of this auspicious juncture to think through the dynamics of MCC commemoration.
Journal of Mennonite Studies, 2020
An introduction to a special issue in the Journal of Mennonite Studies on Anthropology and Mennon... more An introduction to a special issue in the Journal of Mennonite Studies on Anthropology and Mennonites co-edited by Royden Loewen and Philip Fountain.
Newsroom, 2020
The 2020 coronavirus pandemic has caused disruption on a global scale, impacting on many facets o... more The 2020 coronavirus pandemic has caused disruption on a global scale, impacting on many facets of life. Religions are invariably implicated in such times of crisis in diverse ways. But how should we think about what is taking place religiously at the present time?
This short article considers the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in terms of 'crisis religion', exploring ways that religions are responding and being reshaped by the disruption of this epoch-making global event. Reflecting on developments from the vantage point of New Zealand, it encourages analysis that pushes beyond commonly employed frames of reactionary, resurgent or repugnant religion.
Sites, 2019
Although a significant literature has arisen examining the intersections of Christianity and deve... more Although a significant literature has arisen examining the intersections of Christianity and development in the Pacific, these themes have yet to receive the full attention they deserve. This special issue seeks to encourage further scholarship on these important themes. In this introduction we trace some of the entanglements between religion and development in Pacific history and suggest some productive future research trajectories.
Religions, 2018
Religion has been profoundly reconfigured in the age of development. Over the past half century, ... more Religion has been profoundly reconfigured in the age of development. Over the past half century, we can trace broad transformations in the understandings and experiences of religion across traditions in communities in many parts of the world. In this paper, we delineate some of the specific ways in which 'religion' and 'development' interact and mutually inform each other with reference to case studies from Buddhist Thailand and Muslim Indonesia. These non-Christian cases from traditions outside contexts of major western nations provide windows on a complex, global history that considerably complicates what have come to be established narratives privileging the agency of major institutional players in the United States and the United Kingdom. In this way we seek to move discussions toward more conceptual and comparative reflections that can facilitate better understandings of the implications of contemporary entanglements of religion and development. A Sarvodaya Shramadana work camp has proved to be the most effective means of destroying the inertia of any moribund village community and of evoking appreciation of its own inherent strength and directing it towards the objective of improving its own conditions.
One area of tension between the disciplines of anthropology and theology is the question of norma... more One area of tension between the disciplines of anthropology and theology is the question of normativity—an invocation to be otherwise. Some imagine a sharp bifurcation between the disciplines, with anthropologists concerned with thick description of human life-worlds whereas theologians practice a normative endeavour in their attempt to propel their audience toward a desired telos. This article interrogates these assumptions by re-examining the relationship between description and normativity. Through explorations of recent theological and anthropological arguments on these themes, we propose that the relation between these orientations is not as clear-cut as it first would seem. Each discipline has both normative and descriptive impulses, and these are never entirely disentangled. Indeed, we argue that anthropologists and theologians have much to learn from each other about their respective normativities.
Anglican Taonga (Winter 2018): 24-25
New Zealanders often express pride in their nation’s long-standing reputation for peace. That ire... more New Zealanders often express pride in their nation’s long-standing reputation for peace. That irenic perception became embedded in the national DNA after the Second World War, when New Zealand took on a more independent foreign policy. Many New Zealanders cherished their country’s role in founding the United Nations, and lauded our commitment to global peacekeeping. World-leading opposition to nuclear weapons and contributions to the anti-apartheid movement in the 1970s and 80s became the stuff of legends. New Zealand’s internal conflicts, given what we read daily about tensions elsewhere, seem relatively benign. Just quietly, Kiwis are pretty chuffed at how the world perceives us, and how we stack up on international scales like the Global Peace Index (second in 2017) and World Happiness Report (eighth in 2017). This perception of peacefulness is not without merit, but to be truthful, we need to complicate that too-rosy picture.
Newsroom, 2018
It has become one of the most commonplace and influential ideas about religion: that it is the ca... more It has become one of the most commonplace and influential ideas about religion: that it is the cause of much, if not most, of the conflict and violence in the world. While this is not a new idea — religious passions have long been deemed suspect for their potential to causes divisions — the notion that religion is intrinsically violence-inducing has become much more deeply ingrained in recent times.
This image of religion as a primary propagator of violence runs strangely counter to a lot of influential theorising about religion. From Émile Durkheim and Max Weber onward, religion has been seen as a mechanism for binding people together. Some scholars even think the term 'religion' comes from the Latin term 'religare', meaning 'to bind'. As with many popular myths, it is worth taking a second look and scratching below the rhetorical surface. It is worth asking, as bona fide questions: Is religion intrinsically violent? If not, can this be said of all religions, all of the time, or of just some religions at particular times? If so, which ones and when? What does New Zealand's experience tell us?
As Development Studies scholars have long argued, the rapid and remarkable growth of nongovernmen... more As Development Studies scholars have long argued, the rapid and remarkable growth of nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) since the Second World War has amounted to nothing less than an institutional revolution of the ways in which people around the world organise themselves. But while the scholarly literature on NGOs is vast, and continuing to grow, some themes in the history of NGOs have attracted more attention than others. One remarkable feature is that, historically, relatively little attention has been paid to questions of religion. See: http://www.qeh.ox.ac.uk/blog/religion-and-ngos-understanding-new-global-configurations-humanitarian-development-and-%E2%80%98faith
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Edited Volumes by Philip Fountain
CONTENTS
1. Introduction: Pursuing Peace in Godzone -- Geoffrey Troughton and Philip Fountain. 2. Barrington, Burton and the Challenge of Christian Pacifism in New Zealand -- Tom Noakes-Duncan. 3. A Historic Peace Church in Aotearoa New Zealand: Quakers and their Heritage -- Elizabeth Duke. 4. The Peace Squadron Revisited -- George Armstrong. 5. Revolution at the Kitchen Tables: Churches and the 1980s Peace Movement -- Peter Matheson. 6. The Treaty, the Church and the Reconciliation of Christ -- Karen Kemp. 7. Taranaki, Coventry and the Paths of Peace and Reconciliation -- Jamie Allen. 8. Maungarongo ki te Whenua: Te Ora Hou Making its Peace -- Mike Ross, Manu Caddie, Jono Campbell, and Judy Kumeroa. 9. Icons of Peace -- John Chote. 10. Missionary Peacemaking: New Zealand Activists and the Decolonisation of Southern Africa -- Pamela Welch. 11. Migrant Peacemakers? African Pentecostals in New Zealand -- Dorcas Dennis. 12. Ploughshares at Waihopai -- Adi Leason. 13. Restoring Karioi: Ecology, Community and the Practice of Peace -- Andrew Shepherd. 14. Are Contemporary Christian New Zealanders Committed to Peace? -- John H. Shaver, Chris G. Sibley, and Joseph A. Bulbulia. 15. Remembering Jesus on Anzac Day: Just War or Just Another War? -- Chris Marshall. 16. Afterword: Christianity and Peace in New Zealand -- Geoffrey Troughton and Philip Fountain.
Articles by Philip Fountain
A pdf of the paper is available in open access on the Counterfutures journal website: https://counterfutures.nz/14/Fountain.pdf
This short article considers the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in terms of 'crisis religion', exploring ways that religions are responding and being reshaped by the disruption of this epoch-making global event. Reflecting on developments from the vantage point of New Zealand, it encourages analysis that pushes beyond commonly employed frames of reactionary, resurgent or repugnant religion.
This image of religion as a primary propagator of violence runs strangely counter to a lot of influential theorising about religion. From Émile Durkheim and Max Weber onward, religion has been seen as a mechanism for binding people together. Some scholars even think the term 'religion' comes from the Latin term 'religare', meaning 'to bind'. As with many popular myths, it is worth taking a second look and scratching below the rhetorical surface. It is worth asking, as bona fide questions: Is religion intrinsically violent? If not, can this be said of all religions, all of the time, or of just some religions at particular times? If so, which ones and when? What does New Zealand's experience tell us?
CONTENTS
1. Introduction: Pursuing Peace in Godzone -- Geoffrey Troughton and Philip Fountain. 2. Barrington, Burton and the Challenge of Christian Pacifism in New Zealand -- Tom Noakes-Duncan. 3. A Historic Peace Church in Aotearoa New Zealand: Quakers and their Heritage -- Elizabeth Duke. 4. The Peace Squadron Revisited -- George Armstrong. 5. Revolution at the Kitchen Tables: Churches and the 1980s Peace Movement -- Peter Matheson. 6. The Treaty, the Church and the Reconciliation of Christ -- Karen Kemp. 7. Taranaki, Coventry and the Paths of Peace and Reconciliation -- Jamie Allen. 8. Maungarongo ki te Whenua: Te Ora Hou Making its Peace -- Mike Ross, Manu Caddie, Jono Campbell, and Judy Kumeroa. 9. Icons of Peace -- John Chote. 10. Missionary Peacemaking: New Zealand Activists and the Decolonisation of Southern Africa -- Pamela Welch. 11. Migrant Peacemakers? African Pentecostals in New Zealand -- Dorcas Dennis. 12. Ploughshares at Waihopai -- Adi Leason. 13. Restoring Karioi: Ecology, Community and the Practice of Peace -- Andrew Shepherd. 14. Are Contemporary Christian New Zealanders Committed to Peace? -- John H. Shaver, Chris G. Sibley, and Joseph A. Bulbulia. 15. Remembering Jesus on Anzac Day: Just War or Just Another War? -- Chris Marshall. 16. Afterword: Christianity and Peace in New Zealand -- Geoffrey Troughton and Philip Fountain.
A pdf of the paper is available in open access on the Counterfutures journal website: https://counterfutures.nz/14/Fountain.pdf
This short article considers the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in terms of 'crisis religion', exploring ways that religions are responding and being reshaped by the disruption of this epoch-making global event. Reflecting on developments from the vantage point of New Zealand, it encourages analysis that pushes beyond commonly employed frames of reactionary, resurgent or repugnant religion.
This image of religion as a primary propagator of violence runs strangely counter to a lot of influential theorising about religion. From Émile Durkheim and Max Weber onward, religion has been seen as a mechanism for binding people together. Some scholars even think the term 'religion' comes from the Latin term 'religare', meaning 'to bind'. As with many popular myths, it is worth taking a second look and scratching below the rhetorical surface. It is worth asking, as bona fide questions: Is religion intrinsically violent? If not, can this be said of all religions, all of the time, or of just some religions at particular times? If so, which ones and when? What does New Zealand's experience tell us?
“Navigating a world of religious NGOs:
Ethnography, abstraction, and views of the horizon,”
Geography Compass 11(10) · October 2017;11:e12328
Since the turn of the twenty-first century, there has been a prodigious production of typological studies seeking to “map” religious NGOs. In this paper, our intention is not to construct yet another new map of religious NGOs, or even to map these earlier mappings. Rather we would like to open up here some new conversations about the ways in which we might better understand, appreciate, and build upon work that has been done to date on NGOs at the intersection of religion and development. In doing this, we explore some alternative technologies for the navigation of this brave new world.
Full text available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12328
focus on material things can help invigorate research into the emerging field of ‘religion and development’ by drawing attention to what can be called the theological life of things.
In Bolotta, G., Fountain, P. and Feener R.M (eds.) (2020), Political Theologies and Development in Asia: Transcendence, Sacrifice and Aspiration. Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 1-17.
This paper was the introduction to the conference on 'Christianity, Anthropology and the Problem of Difference' held at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore on 27 February 2015. The conference was organised by Bernardo Brown. The introduction was presented by Philip Fountain and Michael Feener. For further details about the conference see: http://www.ari.nus.edu.sg/events_categorydetails.asp?categoryid=6&eventid=1601
remains a pressing need for detailed empirical research into actual actors and practices and also for the development of more sophisticated conceptual frameworks for approaching the subject. This seminar is focused on the second of these tasks. Through critical engagement with three recent books – Riesebrodt’s The Promise of Salvation, Barnett’s Empire of Humanity, and Huet’s The Culture of Disaster – I seek to re‐think the ways that the entanglements of religion and disaster relief are analysed and, following on from this, I point to how this might be put to work in the research agenda on this topic in the Asian region.
This symposium builds upon emerging anthropological and theological research on the entanglements between Christianity and development. It seeks to further expand the horizons of scholarly debate by attending to both theologies and practices. We aim to open new lines of enquiry by asking: How have interactions between Christianity and development reshaped each other? What are the genealogical and historical connections between various Christian traditions and the values, formations and practices of mainstream international development? What tensions have arisen between Christian and development (and within Christian development) actors and what do these reveal about the nature of development today? What directions should anthropological and theological analysis take in future research on development?
Short provocations by leading scholars from anthropology and theology will help facilitate a broad-ranging interdisciplinary conversation which will open new spaces for rethinking analytical frameworks and move the debate about Christianity and development into new questions and arenas.
This event is co-sponsored by the Ertegun Graduate Scholarship Programme in the Humanities, University of Oxford, and the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore. The Asia Research Institute gratefully acknowledges the generous contribution of the Initiative on Religion and International Affairs of the Henry Luce Foundation in support of this symposium."
In this paper I argue that while donor trends ebb and flow development has in fact always been haunted by religion. An adequate understanding of development is only possible if careful attention is given to the constructions and practices of a pronounced secular-religious dichotomy. Two crucial issues are at stake. First, development has been constituted through the occlusion of the religious Other. This is apparent in widespread amnesia of the origins of western humanitarianism and development in transnational Christian mission and activism. Second, secular actors have never been the only players within development processes, though the presence of ‘religion’ (including its very construction) has been carefully policed, discursively and otherwise. Engagement between development actors – secular and sublime – has always been a necessary part in making development work. Critical analysis of secular-religious dynamics in development is vital for illuminating the cultural politics of development as such. Therefore, rather than a peripheral and passing fad (a re-worked) ‘religion and development’ must be located at the forefront of development studies and remain a key conversation topic in the wider industry.
The thesis interrogates the debate regarding the place of religion in the international development system. It argues that the historical expulsion of religion by mainstream development actors and also much of the interest in the current resurgence of religion are examples of an artificial bounding of religion as separate from a supposedly neutral secular domain. Rather than assuming a universal and essentialised definition of religion, the thesis is grounded in the particularities of how a specific religious tradition informs one particular actor. The influences of Mennonite religion on MCC are traced through time and in interconnections across cultural difference. The 'friction' of these cross-cultural encounters is profoundly generative. This necessitates close and detailed studies rather than simplistic generalisations. By examining the diverse ways in which Mennonite religion permeates throughout MCC's work in Indonesia the thesis challenges those who continue to question whether religion has a legitimate place in development activity."
The success of religious-based development work depends on effectively bridging very different cultural and religious worlds. Braiding together extensive ethnographic and archival research, Philip Fountain analyzes MCC’s practices of cultural translation in the Indonesian context. While the particularities of Mennonite religious values are deeply influential for MCC’s work, in practice its humanitarian project involves collaboration with a range of actors who come from widely varied religious positions. In taking a nuanced, case-specific approach to understanding how faith shapes moral projects, Fountain challenges mainstream claims to secular neutrality and the tendency to dismiss or disapprove of religious motivations in development work.
Exploring the diverse ways in which Mennonite convictions permeate MCC’s work in Indonesia, The Service of Faith confronts the question of whether religion has a legitimate place in international development work.
https://www.mqup.ca/service-of-faith--the-products-9780228022480.php