Development as a form of religious engineering? Religion and secularity in development discourse

Haustein, Jörg

doi:10.1080/0048721x.2020.1792049

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…By contrast, local faith actors (LFAs), who are a diverse cohort (see typology of LFAs below), are less likely to form partnerships with international aid organisations, particularly the more ‘local’ they are, as they are less likely to have co-opted the formal language of the international humanitarian system, including downplaying faith identities (Tomalin 2018 ). While these points still stand, more recent scholarship adds nuance to this by exploring the ways in which aid has never been truly “secular” (Haustein 2020 ; Wilkinson 2019 ), the influence of neo-colonial and Orientalising views of religions from development actors (Khalaf-Elledge 2020 ), and the influence of faith actors in playing different roles and shaping the boundaries between secular and religious spaces in aid (Tomalin 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Faith in localisation? The experiences of local faith actors engaging with the international humanitarian system in South Sudan

Wilkinson¹,

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Tomalin

et al. 2022

Int J Humanitarian Action

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Localisation, as it aims to shift power in the humanitarian system, will involve the increased inclusion of local faith actors, those national and local faith-affiliated groups and organisations that are often first, and last, responders in crises and have been responding in humanitarian contexts for many years, but often in parallel to humanitarian coordination mechanisms. In primary research in South Sudan with local faith actors and international humanitarian actors, this article aims to examine the inroads and barriers to local faith actor involvement in the humanitarian system and the realisation of localisation with local actors such as these. The research is based on an ethnographic study in which researchers were imbedded in a humanitarian project that aimed to help bridge divides between local faith actors and the international humanitarian system. The findings are based on one-on-one and group interviews with 89 participants from a range of international and local, and faith and secular, organisations. Findings indicate that local faith actors are active in responding to crises and want to be linked to the humanitarian system, but they feel distanced from it and pigeonholed as local faith actors. Formalisation through the appropriate registration systems and then training and networking with the humanitarian system helped them build legitimacy and feel confident to participate in humanitarian coordination. International humanitarian actors can help bridge barriers by understanding and connecting with the local faith actors and challenging their own assumptions about who local faith actors are.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Faith in localisation? The experiences of local faith actors engaging with the international humanitarian system in South Sudan

Wilkinson¹,

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Tomalin

et al. 2022

Int J Humanitarian Action

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“…Consequently, recent contributions to the religion and development debate have pointed to what could be called the long history of religion and development, i.e., the historical antecedents of the contemporary religion and development debate. While much of the literature in the religion and development debate situates the origins of religion and development in the religious turn towards the end of the 20th Century, recent research has complemented this by pointing to the longer history of religion and development (Haustein 2020). Spies (2021, p. 11) points out that "religious positions .…”

Section: The Long History Of Religion and Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diaconia and Development: The Study of Religious Social Practice as Lead Discipline in the Religion and Development Debate

Öhlmann

2023

Religions

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In this article, I argue that the research field of religion and development and diaconal studies, the study of Christian social practice, share a common subject of inquiry: the social impact of religion. The field of religion and development investigates this mainly with a focus on the Global South and within the discursive framework of the concept of development, while diaconal studies has thus far taken a Christian perspective and a historic focus on the Global North. Recent paradigm shifts in the development discourse (post-development critique, 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as a global framework, critique of the secularist approach) put the field of religion and development under pressure to broaden its scope. Moreover, there is no clear lead discipline in the religion and development debate yet, raising questions about its disciplinary location in academic institutions and curricula. The field of diaconal studies is challenged by increasing religious pluralism and under pressure to consider perspectives from the Global South. Impulses from the recent advances in the conceptualisation of ecumenical diaconia as a new paradigm of Christian social service push the field to move beyond its historic focus on assistance and care. The aim of this article is to juxtapose these two fields of academic study and to bring them into mutual dialogue. The article reflects on both fields and their respective advantages and disadvantages and highlights areas of overlap. It goes on to propose a broadened discipline of diaconal studies, reshaped as the Study of Religious Social Practice, as a new academic field. The focus of this field would be the impact of religion on society in global perspective, across religious traditions and geographic contexts.

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“…It ignored that reflections about development were taking place within religious institutions and communities, and that development itself was imbued with certain assumptions based on wider world views -including religious world views -about what counted as progress. Despite growing research that questions the secular assumptions of development studies (Ager and Ager 2011;Clarke and Jennings 2008;Deneulin and Bano 2009;Haustein 2021;Hovland 2007;McGregor, Skeaff, and Bevan 2012;Olivier 2016;Paras 2012;Smith 2017), work on the concept and meaning of development from the normative standpoint of religious traditions is still nascent.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Religion and development: integral ecology and the Catholic Church Amazon Synod

Deneulin

2021

Third World Quarterly

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Religion and development' is now a well-established research area within development studies. However, reflections on development from within the standpoint of religions remain largely unexplored. Interrogating processes of social change from a certain moral standpoint -whether some are more desirable or worthwhile than others -has been a defining characteristic of development studies throughout its history. The paper argues that, given these normative underpinnings, greater dialogue is needed with ethical frameworks among which reflections on development are conducted within religions. It argues that extending the moral standpoint from which to interrogate processes of social change to include that of religious traditions could contribute to development studies' ongoing reflections on the concept and meaning of development. The paper focuses on the reflections on development conducted from within the Catholic tradition, particularly Pope Francis's encyclical Laudato Si': On Care for Our Common Home, and its implementation in the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region. It argues that these reflections, which have moved the concept of development towards integral ecology, could contribute to broadening the normative basis of development studies more widely, and offer a more integrated approach for thinking about development and how societies should move into the future.

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Development as a form of religious engineering? Religion and secularity in development discourse

Cited by 6 publications

References 41 publications

Faith in localisation? The experiences of local faith actors engaging with the international humanitarian system in South Sudan

Faith in localisation? The experiences of local faith actors engaging with the international humanitarian system in South Sudan

Diaconia and Development: The Study of Religious Social Practice as Lead Discipline in the Religion and Development Debate

Religion and development: integral ecology and the Catholic Church Amazon Synod

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