This paper takes stock of current thinking about the nature and distinctiveness of faith-based organisations (FBOs) in development. Since the 1990s, public policy-linked scholarship from the USA has sought to define and categorise FBOs. More recently, many donors have increasingly chosen to work with and fund such organisations, giving rise to discussions about how FBOs working in development should be defined and classified, and how their contribution to development should be assessed. While many of the available studies portray FBOs as having comparative advantages over so-called secular organisations, this paper concludes that such a generalisation over-simplifies reality, particularly in the absence of convincing evidence. Further assessments of the characteristics, roles, and activities of all types of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are needed to assist in the choice of development partners and to test claims of distinctiveness and comparative advantage.Réflexion sur les organisations à base religieuse dans le développement : où en sommesnous et quelles sont les étapes suivantes ? Cet article fait le point sur la réflexion actuelle concernant la nature et le caractère distinct des organisations à base religieuse (OBR) dans le développement. Depuis les années 1990, la réflexion théorique en matière de politiques publiques venue des É tats-Unis a cherché à définir et à catégoriser les OBR. Plus récemment, de nombreux bailleurs de fonds ont de plus en plus souvent décidé de travailler avec ces organisations et de les financer, ce qui a donné lieu à des discussions sur la manière dont les OBR qui travaillent dans le secteur du développement devraient être définies et classifiées, et sur la manière dont leur contribution au développement devrait être évaluée. Bien que nombre des études disponibles décri-vent les OBR comme étant dotées d'avantages comparatifs par rapport aux organisations soi-disant laïques, cet article conclut que cette généralisation simplifie excessivement la réalité, en particulier en l'absence de données convaincantes. Des évaluations supplémen-taires des caractéristiques, des rôles et des activités de tous les types d'organisations non gouvernementales (ONG) sont requises pour faciliter le choix de partenaires de développe-ment et pour mettre à l'épreuve les revendications ayant trait au caractère distinct et à l'avantage comparatif.Pensando sobre organizações baseadas na fé no desenvolvimento: até onde chegamos e o que vem a seguir? Este artigo organiza ideias atuais sobre a natureza e distinção de Organizações Baseadas na Fé (OBFs) no desenvolvimento. Desde a década de 1990, bolsa de estudo ligada a políticas públicas dos EUA tem buscado definir e classificar as OBFs. Mais recentemente, vários doadores têm cada vez mais escolhido trabalhar com tais organizações e financiá-las, estimulando o debate sobre como as OBFs trabalhando na área de desenvolvimento devem ser definidas e classificadas e como sua contribuição para o desenvolvimento deve ser avaliada. Embora muitos dos estudos di...

Religious traditions have always played a central role in supporting those experiencing poverty, through service delivery as well as the provision of spiritual resources that provide mechanisms for resilience at both the individual and community level. However, the fact that religions can be seen to support social structures and practices that contribute towards inequality and conflict, also underscores a role for religious traditions in creating conditions of poverty. While the Western-led modern global development institutions that have emerged since the Second World War have tended to be secular in nature, over the past decade or so there has been an apparent 'turn to religion' by these global development institutions, as well as in academic development studies. This reflects the realization that modernization and secularization do not necessarily go together, and that religious values and faith actors are important determinants in the drive to reduce poverty, as well as in structures and practices that underpin it. This paper traces three phases of engagement between religions and global development institutions. In phase one, the 'pre-secular' or the 'integrated phase' seen during the colonial era, religion and poverty reduction were intimately entwined, with the contemporary global development project being a legacy of this. The second phase is the 'secular' or the 'fragmented' phase, and relates to the era of the global development industry, which is founded on the normative secularist position that modernization will and indeed should lead to secularization. The third phase is characterized by the 'turn to religion' from the early 2000s. Drawing the three phases together and reflecting on the nature of the dynamics within the third phase, the 'turn to religion', this paper is underpinned by two main questions. First, what does this mean for the apparent processes of secularization? Is this evidence that they are being reversed and that we are witnessing the emergence of the 'desecularization of development' or of a 'post-secular development praxis'? Second, to what extent are FBOs working in development to be defined as neoliberalism's 'little platoons'-shaped by and instrumentalized to the service of secular neoliberal social, political and economic systems, or do we need to develop a more sophisticated account that can contribute towards better policy and practice around poverty reduction?

No abstract

No abstract

Religion is a major cultural, social, political, and economic factor in many official development assistance (ODA) recipient countries and understanding religious dynamics and the role of faith communities and actors is crucial for sustainable development. While faith communities have endured and thrived the world over, a wave of modernist, secular social change dominated development practice and discourse from the second half of the 20 th century. It was assumed that religion had become outdated and would eventually disappear. However, faith communities, actors, and assets continue to occupy a critical space. Accordingly, development discourse and practice have seen a new wave indicating a turn to recognizing the significant role of religion.Many faith actors have also been involved in development policy, including a commitment to join the global collaboration around achieving the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Two factors underpin this paper. First, the process to decide the SDGs involved the largest civil society consultation ever held in the UN's history. Second, over the past decade or so increased attention has been paid to the collaboration between faith actors and secular global development actors. Considering these two factors we wanted to better understand the role that faith actors are playing in the SDG process. The paper is based upon findings from a research project funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)-"Keeping Faith in 2030: Religions and the SDGs"-that has been led by the three authors of this paper.