Haze, Nikki Jasmijn
(2017)
Breaking the Cloud of Inevitability in the Religion-Development Nexus?
Master thesis, Master Research Master Theologie en Religiewetenschappen.
Abstract
In current global development discourse, secular actors are increasingly seeking to (re)engage with religious stakeholders, such as faith-based organizations, religious institutions and religious leaders, in an attempt to ‘include’ religion as another instrument to achieve development goals. While this might seem as a point of departure, I argue in this thesis that this paradigm is yet another variety of secularism that ultimately does not seek to make development aid more inclusive. The persisting secular bias in global politics has been criticized and deconstructed by various scholars. Yet, how varieties of secularism actually affect development policies remains understudied. This thesis is concerned with the question how varieties of secularism affect development policies on child protection across various levels and actors in global politics. My main argument is that dominant secularist approaches to and perceptions of the religious-development nexus are still part of a broader ontological structure of secularism that continues to sideline other epistemologies and ontologies. Studying how varieties of secularism affect development policies across various levels and actors in global politics provides relevant insights in how to move beyond secularist assumptions and frameworks, in order to enable a future of more inclusive development aid. In this thesis, my analysis involves four levels in global development politics. Firstly, I study how varieties of secularism affect dominant international development discourse on child protection, by analyzing the Convention of the Rights of the Child (an international treaty that has been signed by 196 nation-states) Secondly, I study Indian discourse on a national level, by analyzing how religio-political and politico-communal developments affect India’s national discourse on child protection. Thirdly, I study how varieties of secularism affect the work and position of a transnational faith-based organization (World Vision International). Lastly, considering that some scholars and practitioners have put explicit religious programs forward as a solution to the dominance of secularism, I study whether and, if so, how World Vision’s Channels of Hope Child Protection program (an explicit religious program) either reinforces or subverts dominant secular frameworks in global development politics. This analysis is based on local fieldwork I have conducted in Bangalore India during a Channels of Hope Child Protection workshop for faith leaders.
| Type: |
Thesis
(Master)
|
| Supervisors (RUG): |
| Supervisor | E-mail | Tutor organization | Tutor email |
|---|
| Wilson, E.K. | E.K.Wilson@rug.nl | | | | Bartelink, B.E. | B.E.Bartelink@rug.nl | | |
|
| Degree programme: |
Master Research Master Theologie en Religiewetenschappen |
| Academic year: |
2016- 2017 |
| Date of delivery: |
10 Nov 2017 |
| Last modified: |
10 Nov 2017 09:43 |
| URI: |
https://rcs.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/298 |
Actions (requires login)
 |
View Item |
