The Implications of Religious Engagement at Policy and Practice Levels in Development

It is in the last 20 years or so that more research on religions and development has emerged. So what is “religions and development”? It is the study of any and all religious beliefs and practices as they relate to people’s work to improve and protect human dignity, wellbeing, and society. This is a wide field, potentially, but in particular, the focus of religions and development research is on the work of international development organizations and their partnerships with faith actors, ranging from small, local faith groups to large faith-based organizations. 

In the early days of this work, religions were mostly ignored in development research. In the 90s and 2000s, this started to reverse, particularly after 9/11, but also building on research and discussion that had been growing in the previous decade. Much of the work at this time was trying to make the case that international development should pay attention to religions. Projects from the World Bank and the UK’s Department of International Development (DfID) provided many case studies showing how religions were already involved in the day-to-day work of development. Books argued that the complexity and nuances of religions must be understood, encouraging engagement with religion “in its entirety and not only to the extent that it is conducive or detrimental to pre-defined development goals.”  

From 2010 to the present, research in religions and development has considerably grown. There are several handbooks and special journal issues on the subject, and now there is a dedicated journal launched in 2022. Research has become increasingly interested in investigating and critiquing religious engagement in international development. Researchers noticed that research in this area had been too focused on how to instrumentally work with religions (i.e., co-opt or use), too focused only on faith-based organizations, which are, in fact, only a small segment of all types of faith actors, and too quick to separate religions from development norms, setting up an us vs. them approach (i.e., religions vs. development). 

There are some common themes in all religions and development evidence so far. Evidence repeatedly shows that religions have assets that are important for development, from the trust and authority of religious leaders and institutions (e.g., 2014-15 Ebola response), to their access to remote locations and groups, their financial clout, and their volunteer and social networks to reach out to a large number and diverse range of people. There is more evidence in some areas, such as health and HIV/AIDS response, since faith-based work in these areas has been prominent for decades (and even centuries in the case of health care provision from religious institutions). The evidence base on religions and development grows stronger every year as more research helps us understand how to improve religious engagement.

This session aims to provoke debate on the state of our field as a whole. The papers in the session interrogate the nuanced nature of FBOs to explain both the positive and negative aspects of their involvement, demonstrate a way to measure the relevance of faith in development work, and explore the roles of young people in religious engagement in high-level policy spaces. These papers show the breadth of research possible within the field of religions and development. As a field with much applied research, they also showcase practical methods and approaches to working with faith actors in development. These papers reflect on the implications of religious engagement at policy and practice levels, from the local to the national and global.