Religion, Agency and Humanitarian support: A study of ZOA’s engagement with religious actors in peacebuilding

Van der Zwan, Davita Religion, Agency and Humanitarian support: A study of ZOA’s engagement with religious actors in peacebuilding. Master thesis, Master Religion Conflict and Globalisation.

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Abstract

Although an academic appreciation of the role of religion in peacebuilding has developed recently, a self-evident application of ‘religious peacebuilding’ in humanitarian practice has been lacking. To understand this gap between theory and practice, this research looks at tendencies of ‘structure’ and ‘agency’ in the humanitarian field, through the informed decisions actors make. Focusing on the religious NGO ZOA, this thesis researches how engaging with religious actors in peacebuilding is experienced by staff and what these experiences tell about the agency religious NGOs exercise within the humanitarian field. The research shows that ZOA does not deliberately cooperate with religious actors for their religiosity. However, in practice, cooperation with religious actors occurs often, because of their strategic added value. The informed decisions ZOA makes indicate that religious NGOs exercise agency within the humanitarian field. Simultaneously, however, this agency is limited on an ideological level, relating to conceptualizations of aid. Concretely, ZOA displays two ‘blind spots’, including the idea that responses to community problems need to be non-religious, and that only non-religious problems need to be responded to. However, these assumptions might not correspond to aid receivers’ own perceptions. Consequently, the absence of self-evident application of ‘religious peacebuilding’ results from a lack of sensitivity to the fact that aid receivers might have religious needs and might desire religious responses to their problems. The research shows that not only secular, but also religious organizations lack this sensitivity. By solely providing secular responses, humanitarian actors might fundamentally misunderstand the people they try to serve.

Type:

Thesis (Master)

Supervisors (RUG):

Supervisor	E-mail	Tutor organization	Tutor email
Tarusarira, J.		Faculteit GGW, Religiewetenschap	J.Tarusarira@rug.nl
Bartelink, B.E.		Faculteit GGW, Vergelijkende Religiewetenschap	B.E.Bartelink@rug.nl

Degree programme:

Master Religion Conflict and Globalisation

Academic year:

2021-2022

Date of delivery:

14 Oct 2022 08:16

Last modified:

14 Oct 2022 08:16

URI:

https://rcs.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/697

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