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For years, academics and policy makers have claimed that economic progress would lead to a less religious world. Yet in practice, the very opposite has seemed to be true. Despite impressive advances in business and technology, citizens continue to hold strongly to their faiths, viewing the world through the prism of religious ideology even as they live increasingly modern lives.
Religion and Development explores the enduring relationship between religion and economic development, focusing less on religious institutions and more on the ideas of religion. For certain people, religion exists as a separate dimension of life, often operating behind or in conjunction with drivers of development. Contributors argue that religious ideas are what motivate citizens to act and that adhering to a religious worldview results in specific outcomes. They particularly address the failure of technocratic visions of development to respond to the issues of everyday life. Exploring ways to harness religious resources for development, they also debate the belief that material advancement of individuals and communities is inseparable from spiritual improvement.
Columbia University Press
This volume is a welcome addition to an important and emerging new subject area in development studies. Essential reading for those who want to better understand the complex, challenging, and, at times, fraught relationship between religion and development.
As the contributors to this volume argue, if development is to succeed, development policies must truly be integral in scope. Religion, therefore, cannot be excluded from the debate. I am delighted that this book is being published. I urge everyone involved in the theory and practice of development to take its insights to heart.
About the Contributors vii
List of Abbreviations xiii
Foreword James D. Wolfensohn xvii
Part 1 Religion and Development: What's in Two Names?
1 Religion and Development: Introducing a New Debate Gerrie ter Haar 3
2 Development and Faith Institutions: Gulfs and Bridges Katherine Marshall 27
3 Faith-based Organisations and Development: An African Indigenous Organisation in Perspective Dele Olowu 55
4 Religion and Sustainable Development: A Typological Analysis Louke M. van Wensveen 81
Part 2 Religion and Economics
5 Religious Values and Economic Growth: A Review and Assessment of Recent Studies Eelke de Jong 111
6 Religion and Development Revisited: Some Lessons from Guatemalan Micro-entrepreneurs Henri Gooren 141
7 Islamic Banking: Background,Theory and Practice Ismail Ozsoy 159
8 The Opportunities and Challenges of Islamic Microfmance Ajaz Ahmed Khan Laura Thaut 183
Part 3 Religion and the Millennium Development Goals
9 Religion and the Millennium Development Goals: Whose Agenda? Wendy Tyndale 207
10 A Model of Integral Development: Assessing and Working with Religious Health Assets James R. Cochrane 231
11 Muslim NGOs and the Reality of HIV/AIDS Willem van Eekelen Helen Mould 253
12 Re-imagining the Role of Ulama: Poverty Alleviation and Development in Pakistan Husnul Amin 273
Part 4 Religion, Development and Social Change
13 Religion and Human Rights: Searching for Common Ground Gerrie ter Haar 295
14 Harnessing Popular Visions for Social Transformation: The Experience of the OAIC in its Work with African Independent Churches John Padwick Nicta Lubaale 315
15 A Wind of Change: Spirituality and Technology for Global Sustainable Development Christiaan Hogenhuis 331
16 Integral Development: Religion and Development Cooperation in The Netherlands Lisette van der Wel 345
Appendices
Appendix 1 Declaration of Alma-Ata 361
Appendix 2 The Ahero Declaration 367
Appendix 3 OAIC HIV/AIDS Pretoria Declaration 371
Appendix 4 The Cairo Declaration of Religious Leaders in the Arab States 377
Appendix 5 African Church Leaders' Statement on Climate Change and Water 381
General Bibliography 387
Index 413
Overview
For years, academics and policy makers have claimed that economic progress would lead to a less religious world. Yet in practice, the very opposite has seemed to be true. Despite impressive advances in business and technology, citizens continue to hold strongly to their faiths, viewing the world through the prism of religious ideology even as they live increasingly modern lives.
Religion and Development explores the enduring relationship between religion and economic ...