Tomalin, E orcid.org/0000-0001-7722-1192 (2020) Global Aid and Faith Actors: the case for an actor-oriented approach to the ‘turn to religion’. International Affairs, 96 (2). pp. 323-342. ISSN 0020-5850
Abstract
In this article, drawing on the work of the development sociologist Norman Long, I make the case for an actor-oriented approach to understanding the ‘turn to religion’ by global aid actors over the past couple of decades. I ask, is the ‘turn to religion’ evidence of the emergence of post-secular partnerships or are faith actors being instrumentalized to serve neo-liberal development goals? I argue that neither option captures the whole story and advocate that the study of religion and development needs to move beyond a binary between the ‘turn to religion’ as either evidence of post-secular partnerships or of the ‘instrumentalization’ of religion by the secular global aid business, and instead to think about how faith actors themselves encounter and shape development discourses and frameworks, translate them into relevant formats and strategically employ them. Alongside the adoption of an actor-orientated approach, I build on the work of Lewis and Mosse, Olivier de Sardan and Bierschenk to view international faith-based organizations (IFBOs) as development brokers and translators. This approach allows me to articulate the distinctive role that many members of IFBOs report they play as intermediaries who shift register between the secular development language and the faith-inspired language of their local faith partners. I take the engagement of faith actors with the new Sustainable Development Goals framework as a case-study to explore this.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Royal Institute of International Affairs. This is an author produced version of a paper published in International Affairs. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science (Leeds) > Theology and Religious Studies (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number AHRC (Arts & Humanities Research Council) AH/P006418/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 10 Jan 2020 15:07 |
Last Modified: | 01 Mar 2022 01:38 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
Identification Number: | 10.1093/ia/iiaa006 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:155438 |