1st Edition
Faith-Based Organizations in Development Discourses and Practice
Exploring faith-based organizations (FBOs) in current developmental discourses and practice, this book presents a selection of empirical in-depth case-studies of Christian FBOs and assesses the vital role credited to FBOs in current discourses on development.
Examining the engagement of FBOs with contemporary politics of development, the contributions stress the agency of FBOs in diverse contexts of development policy, both local and global. It is emphasised that FBOs constitute boundary agents and developmental entrepreneurs: they move between different discursive fields such as national and international development discourses, theological discourses, and their specific religious constituencies. By combining influxes from these different contexts, FBOs generate unique perspectives on development: they express alternative views on development and stress particular approaches anchored in their theological social ethics.
This book should be of interest to those researching FBOs and their interaction with international organizations, and to scholars working in the broader areas of religion and politics and politics and development.
List of tables
List of contributors
Foreword
1 Beyond established boundaries: FBOs as developmental entrepreneurs
JENS KOEHRSEN AND ANDREAS HEUSER
2 From missionaries to ecumenical co-workers: a case study from Mission 21 in Kalimantan, Indonesia
CLAUDIA HOFFMANN
3 Mobilising evangelicals for development advocacy: politics and theology in the Micah Challenge campaign for the Millennium Development Goals
DENA FREEMAN
4 World Vision and ‘Christian values’ at the United Nations
JEFFREY HAYNES
5 Giving and development: ethno-religious identities and ‘holistic development’ in Guyana
SINAH THERES KLOß
6 Contextualized development in post-genocide Rwanda: exploring the roles of Christian churches in development and reconciliation
CHRISTINE SCHLIESSER
Index
Biography
Andreas Heuser is Professor for Extra-European Christianity at the University of Basel.
Jens Koehrsen is Professor of Religion and Economy at the University of Basel.