Transcript Document

Moving into the field of theology and
development: revisiting and going
beyond an initial study
Ignatius Swart
Research Institute for Theology and Religion
University of South Africa
Community Development Workshop & NETACT
AGM
Johannesburg, South Africa, 26-30 January 2015
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(1) INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS
 Approached to give broad orientation of theology and development
as discipline. Where and how it fits in – some of the meta-theories
behind what is being/has been done in the field; current state of the
discipline and the discourses within the discipline.
 Mouthful and not an easy challenge, as this is a discipline or rather a
focus or field of study that has over a prolonged period of time
become extremely broad and extensive in terms of its scope and the
actors involved in it.
 Hopefully do some justice to this request through my aim to, as my title
suggests, take as point of orientation my own study of some years ago
and, with this as basis, offer a broader orientation of how the topical
interest in development has from a theological and religious point of
view evolved over the years.
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 My own study of some years ago: The Churches and the Development
Debate: Perspectives on a Fourth Generation Approach (SUN Press, 2006).
 Why is such an overview important? And why should I thus complement
NetACT on recognising the need for some broad orientation? Because any
deliberate new decision to focus on “theology and development” as a
research and teaching focus – such as by NetACT – should recognise that its
starting point is not an empty page, but one that should build on and can from
an international point of view greatly benefit from a historical and present rich
layer of knowledge, reflection, exploration and experience.
As such, and even if one is open to learn from “outside” debates, a
theological-ecclesial interest no longer has to display a sense of overdependence on the secular field of development studies to learn about
“development”, but can in its own right draw from a rich layer of knowledge,
reflection, exploration and experience from its own ranks.
(NOTE: something I believe a South African theological-ecclesial focus over
the last two decades or so have not sufficiently done).
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 However, a qualification again: Whilst I am making a claim that a
theological-ecclesial focus on development can and should
today drink from its own wells of engagement with development, I
by no means want to claim that this is sufficient.
Instead, I retain a position that an engagement with development
challenges a theological-ecclesial focus on development towards
a new level of social theoretical competence; i.e. a new level of
interdisciplinarity – if not transdisciplinarity – whereby it learns
from, is enriched by but also participates in and contributes to
larger normative debates on development across disciplines.
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 Indeed, it should be recognised by theological actors that they
are not the only ones committed to a normative cause in
development, to a better world, to social change of a more
radical kind.
 One of my favourite definitions of what development studies is:
From Björn Hettne 1995. Development Theory and the Three
Worlds. Halow: Longman.
“Development studies is explicitly normative, as teachers and
researchers attracted to the field tend to see current reality as
sickening, an ‘outrage to morality’ … They want to change the
world, not only anlyse it ….” (p. 12)
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“It [development studies] is a revival of a general interest in
transformation and change which characterized classical social
science, for instance political economy, but today is based on a
broader, global, and culturally more complex empirical
experience. Development is seen as a holistic issue, and
development theory could pave the way for an integrated historical
social science, thereby making itself dispensable…” (p. 13)
“…development theory really took off only after the discovery that
the problems in the Third World were specific and qualitatively
different from the ‘original transition’. It is my contention that that this
‘discovery’ (which was necessary for the rather trivial reason of
excessive Eurocentrism) led to a gradual theoretical enrichment,
and that, to take a step further, development theory will prove to be
of relevance also in the industrial countries, where automatic
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growth can no longer be taken for granted, and ‘development’
now presents itself as a problem to be tackled. Thus, in spite of
the fact that development theory emerged from tentative
attempts at understanding the problem of ‘underdevelopment’
from the point of view of the ‘developed’, it gradually acquired
an increasingly universal quality, i.e. an authentic universalism in
contradistinction to the false universalism that characterized the
Eurocentric phase of development thinking.” (p. 15)
“In the course of its evolution development theory has
consequently become increasingly complex and ‘nondisciplinary’. It is therefore necessary to elaborate further
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on the problem of definition, although the reader may feel reluctant
to digest another definition of a clearly overdefined phenomenon.
My intention, however, is not to propose new definitions but merely
to stress one important point: There can be no fixed and final
definition of development, only suggestions of what development
should imply in particular contexts...” (p. 15)
“Under the concept of development theory I shall subsume theories
(there exists no single, generally accepted, development theory) of
societal change, which attempts to integrate different social
science approaches to the development problem. Development
theory is more concerned with change than is typically the case
with conventional social science disciplines, such as economics,
sociology or political science, trapped as they still are in
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in functionalism and comparative statistics. Development
involves structural transformation which implies cultural, political,
social and economic changes. Development theory is therefore
by definition interdisciplinary, drawing on, but also questioning,
many theoretical and methodological assumptions in both
Marxist and non-Marxist social science …” (pp. 15-16)
Furthermore, development theory has from the start closely been
related to development strategy, i.e. changes of economic
structures and social institutions, undertaken in order to find
consistent and enduring solutions to problems facing decisionmakers in a society…” (pp.16)
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(2) REVISITING AN INITIAL STUDY
 Background of my initial study: The churches and the development
debate: Perspectives on a fourth generation approach.
 A deliberate decision one year after my formal theological studies
in 1991 at SU to shift from a specialisation in Old Testament Studies to
a focus on development from a theological and religious interest.
 A decision profoundly influenced by the changing South African
context of the early 1990s – I attended the Second Church and
Conference of the EFSA Institute in Johannesburg in Nov 1993.
 A decision (despite my theological inclination for the social) for
which I was ill equipped – my theological studies prepared me with
little basis / knowledge / language for such an undertaking
(question of a theological professor a few years later).
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 A study for which I had no orientation in terms of existing literature in
the realm of theology and the churches and which only gradually
led me to discover a single comprehensive body of literature that
existed at the time: the ecumenical debate on development
emanating from the World Council of Churches and its related
settings.
 A study that as a result took me eight years to complete, partly due
to a decision to in the process also enrol for a structured masters
programme in development studies (The Politics of Alternative
Development Strategies) at the Institute for Social Studies (ISS) in The
Hague to strengthen my proficiency in the field of development
studies – given my lack of background.
 A study that I enrolled for in the Dept. of Religious Studies at SU – it
was only in 1999 that a focus on development was formally
introduced in the Faculty of Theology at SU.
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 A study (DPhil) that I completed in 2000 and that I managed to
publish in 2006 through SUN Press.

My recalling of the background of my study is not to boast or burden
you with unnecessary information, but to illustrate something of my
own toilsome journey into the field of theology and development. As
such I still uphold today, based on my own experience, that there
can be no short cuts into this field, given its inter- and
transdisciplinary nature, and given the complexity of the theological
and social challenges that it seeks to deal with.

More specifically about part of the contents of the study:
 It is in the first place a study about the debate about development
that emerged in the realm of the ecumenical movement/WCC
during the mid-1960s and that was sustained as ‘n prominent focus
until more or less the mid-1980s.
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 As such, it is a study that attempted to make sense of a substantial
corpus of published material that emerged from this focus, found in
a number of theological journals but also in study reports,
monographs and anthologies – i.e. by and large the only source on
theology and development at the time.
The Ecumenical Review (Issue 9(4)(1967) as starting-point)
Southeast Asian journals: Religion and Society, Bangalore
Theological Forum, Al-Mushir and East Asian Pastoral Review.
Few example of articles:
Itty, C.I. 1967. Development. The Ecumenical Review 19(4):349-352.
Itty, C.I. 1974. Are we yet awake? The Development Debate within
the ecumenical movement. The Ecumenical Review 26(1):6-20.
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Arce Martinez, S 1978. Development, people’s participation and
theology. The Ecumenical Review 30(3):266-277.
Fernades, A 1970. The role of the church in development. The
Ecumenical Review 22(3):222-250.
Jathanna, O.V. 1987. Theological bases for developmental concern.
Bangalore Theological Forum 19(3):213-234.
Kurien, C.T. 1987. Widening our perspective on development.
Bangalore Theological Forum 19(3):135-142.
Moghal, D. 1993. In search of a human understanding of development.
Al-Mushir 35(2):42-56.
Parmar, S.L. 1970. Goals and process of development. Religion and
Society 17(2):16-33.
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Few examples of reports, monographs and anthologies:
Dickinson, R.D.N. 1968. Line and Plummet: The Churches and
Development. Geneva: WCC.
Dickinson, R.D.N. 1975. To Set at Liberty the Oppressed: Towards an
Understanding of Christian Responsibilities of Development /
Liberation. Geneva: WCC.
Dickinson, R.D.N. 1983. Poor, Yet Making Many Rich: The Poor as Agents
of Creative Justice. Geneva: WCC.
De Santa Ana, J. (ed.) 1980. Separation without Hope: The Church and
the Poor during the Industrial Revolution and Colonial Expansion.
Maryknoll: Orbis.
Elliot, C. 1971. The Development Debate. London: SCM Press.
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Elliot, C. 1987. Comfortable Compassion? Poverty, Power and
the Church. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
Gutierrez Merrino, G. 1969. The meaning of development, in In
Search of a Theology of Development, A Sodepax Report,
116-179, Geneva: Sodepax.
Rendtorrf, T. 1969. A theology of development? In In Search of a
Theology of Development, A Sodepax Report, 204-215,
Geneva: Sodepax.
Rendtorff, T. 1971. Christian foundation of worldly commitment, in
Land, P (ed.), Theology Meets Progress: Human Implications of
Development, 85-103, Rome: Gregorian University Press.
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 Returning to the contents, it is a study that cannot claim to have
explored / captured every aspect of the ecumenical debate in
detail (e.g. the earlier social ethical debates on social progress) but
it is a study in which I have essentially over three chapters sought to
capture three distinctive elements from the overall debate:
1.
The problematisation of charity as historical mode of ecclesial
social engagement and how such mode had to be juxtaposed
by what was to be understood by an ecclesial involvement
through development. This involved an analysis and synthesis of
perspectives from the various contributions to the book initiated
by the WCC’s Commission on the Churches Participation in
Development: De Santa Ana, J. 1980. Separation without Hope:
The Church and the Poor during the Industrial Revolution and
Colonial Expansion. Maryknoll: Orbis.
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2.
An analysis / exploration of the ecumenical debate about development
as an increasingly progressive social ethical discourse that esp. around
the three interrelated concepts of economic growth, social justice and
self-reliance could be appreciated for posing a critical challenge to a
historical and traditional theological and ecclesiastical involvement and
understanding (charity), but a critical challenge also to mainstream
secular discourse.
3.
An analysis / exploration of the sub-debate in the ecumenical
development debate known as the pragmatic debate.
 A sub-debate that through its moderate and radical accounts newly
introduced a distinct tension in the larger ecumenical debate between
theory and practice, between theological and ecclesiastical
development discourse as conceptualised in the realm of the WCC /
ecumenical movement, on the one hand, and what the churches
and their related bodies were under the WCC system in actual fact
doing in the name of development.
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 A sub-debate as such that newly problematised the
churches’ equation of development practice with so-called
development projects, i.e. a project-centred approach and
the inability of such an approach to meet the goals that
were set out in the progressive discourse on development.
 A sub-debate as such that came to question whether a
‘development’ engagement through projects in fact
represented a different ideological, operational and
relational framework from the works of charity in which the
churches were historically involved.
See esp. Elliot, C. 1987. Comfortable Compassion? Poverty,
Power and the Church. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
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 Ended first part of my book with an ultimate conclusion about an
impasse but also prospect of renewal based on my capturing of
the ecumenical development debate, with the argumentation
from the pragmatic debate at the centre of this conclusion.
Impasse – pragmatic debate and the problematisation highlighted
in this debate remained an unresolved aspect of the ecumenical
development debate & coincided with the overall decline of this
debate
Prospect of renewal – to be found in a conceptualisation that
would overcome the problem of the pragmatic debate, which led
me to relate to a similar search for conceptual renewal in the NGO
development debate in the second part of my study.
READ FROM BOOK, pp. 85-89.
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 Second part of my book introduced by Chapter 4: “Charity and
development in the NGO development debate”.
Identification of a similar charity-development juxtaposition in this
debate led me to especially find promise in the conceptual
framework of David Korten, a foremost theorist of people-centred
development in the NGO development debate, whose conceptual
innovation could from a strategic or praxis point of view be found in
his framework of four generations of NGO strategic action in
development. SEE HAND-OUT.
Led me to the central thesis of my study about the perspective of a
fourth generation strategy or approach as the mode of
development engagement that holds the greatest prospect for
authentic participation by the Christian churches in development.
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It is in the unlimited space of the fourth generation strategy that the churches do
not have to be marginalised by the institutional processes of policy-making.
Here they could participate in a larger (transnational) civil society space, in an
‘idea politics’, a ‘movement politics’ in the most radical sense of the word that
does not let itself be confined to set places, spaces and institutions. In this sphere
they would also find much in common with the new social movements and their
supporting actors (e.g. NGOs), who are driven by similar ideals, ideas and values
on the issues of peace, human rights, women, environment, democracy,
people-centred development, and so on. In this unlimited space they would be
able to perform what they can in fact do best, namely to appeal to and change
the attitudes and consciousness of people across boundaries and cultures. In this
space their general, but sometimes also specific, ethical teachings would
appeal to a considerable civil society audience that overlaps with their own
constituency. And lastly, in this sphere they would find an emerging new
appraisal of the contribution of religion to development: not only by someone
like David Korten, but in fact by what can be called a broader ‘alternative’
intellectual movement in the field of development and the social sciences… (p.
8)
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(3)
BEYOND MY INITIAL STUDY
 Beyond but with a qualification:

Prevailing relevance of the ecumenical development debate as historical
source, despite the changes in context between then and now.

Prevailing relevance of the issues emanating from that debate:
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grappling with charity as a prevailing forceful mental construct and mode of social
engagement
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the importance of constructing meaningful and progressive development discourse,
involving a distinctive ability to also speak about development as an economic issue –
“Development is specifically about “the conscious struggle against mass poverty” (MM
Thomas).
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The challenges posed by the pragmatic debate – development practice that will do
justice to the progressive discourse on development.

Prevailing relevance of Korten’s fourth generation vision and a related NGO
development debate.

Note about my own contributions to the South African theological
development debate – the influence of my initial study.
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 However, beyond the historic ecumenical development debate, as well as
Korten and the NGO debate there are crucially today also new horizons to be
explored from a theology and development interest – a challenge that I am
also setting for myself:

Rise of an evangelical development debate
 Reversal on my own initial position – a debate to be taken seriously
 A truly international debate taking over from the ecumenical
movement and reinvigorating the Christian theology and development
debate
 Proliferation of literature esp. since the 1990s – a leading space for
publications the journal of the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies:
Transformation: An International Journal of Holistic Mission Studies
But also see Missiology: An International Review and to a lesser extent
Mission Studies: Jnl of the International Association for Mission Studies. 24
 Important recent publications to learn more about the evolution of the
evangelical development debate:
Stephen Offutt 2012. New directions in Transformational Development. The
Ashbury Journal 67(2): 35-50.
Amy Reynolds & Stephen Offutt 2014. Global poverty and evangelical
action, in Steensland, B. & Goff, P. (eds.), The New Evangelical Social
Engagement, 242-261, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Focus born from the new evangelical social commitment esp. since the
1970s; movement towards the integration of evangelism and social
involvement
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Landmarks – Lausanne Conference – Lausanne Covenant (1974);
Wheation Conference, Illinois – Wheaton Declaration (1983)
See: Vinay Samuel & Christopher Sugden (eds.)1987. The church in
response to human need. Grand Rapids: Regnum Books.
See also: Ronald Sider (eds.) 1981. Evangelicals and Development:
Towards a Theology of Social Change. Exeter: Paternoster Press.
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an alternative to liberation theology (Offutt 2012:39)
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“transformational development” as dominant paradigm
informing the development work of evangelical organisations
globally
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Capstone work of transformational development theory: Bryant
Myers 1999. Walking with the Poor: Principles and Practices of
Transformational Development. Maryknoll: Orbis (Offutt 2012).
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Transformational development builds on a relational
understanding – TD = restoration of broken relationships (Offutt
2012:40ff)
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Leading figures – Vinay Samuel, Wayne Bragg, Ronald Sider,
Myers (“ecumenical evangelicals” – Bosch)
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Three phases / stages of growth of understanding and
engagement – 1. commitment to the poor and attention to relief;
2. emphasis on community and transformational development; 3.
engagement in advocacy efforts (Reynolds & Offutt 2014:243) 26
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Recognition of the NGO sector and an affinity for the work of
Korten (Reynolds & Offutt)
 Important recent work with a pertinent African relevance: Belshaw,
D., Calderisi & Sugden, C. 2001. Faith in Development: Partnership
between the World Bank and the Churches of Africa. Oxford:
Regnum Books.
 Possible difference from ecumenical development debate: less
social theoretical language and weaker social analysis; stronger
explicit theological language informed by an integrated
commitment to social action and evangelism
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 Revival of an ecumenical development debate
 A tentative observation
 But see the Special issue on “New Perspectives in Diakonia”, The
Ecumenical Review 66(3) inspired by Conversation 21 at the 10th
Assembly of the WCC, Busan, Republic of Korea, 2013 –
“Compelled to serve: Diakonia and Development in a Rapidly
Changing World”
 Convergence of the concepts of “diakonia” and
“development”
 On-going importance of “sustainability” as concept linked both
to “diakonia” and “development”
 See esp. the article contribution by Angelique van Zeeland, “The
Changing Development context: A Latin American Perspective”,
pp. 313-323.
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 Some significant features of Van Zeeland’s article:
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Reference to changing development context under ongoing globalisation – and shrinking space of civil society
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New embracement of “transformational development” as
concept
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Underlying fourth generation approach (see p. 318)
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Emphasis on economic dimension and economic justice
and introduction of the “social” and “solidarity economy”
as concepts
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Identifying the “re-engagement of churches as actors in
development” as a major challenge (p. 322)
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 A new international diaconia movement in the making
 The establishment and growth of an new international society
– The International Society for the Research and Study of
Diaconia Christian Social Practice (REDI)
 Diaconia: Journal for the Study of Christian Social Practice
(since 2010)

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Poverty and community-centred Christian ministries strong
foci
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U. Schmidt, “Poverty: A challenge to human dignity” (Issue
1, 2010)
2014 anthology: Dietrich, S. et al., Diakonia as Christian Social
Practice: An Introduction, Regnum Studies in Mission, regnum
Books
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 The evolution of a debate on religion and development in the
social sciences and development studies
 Referred to in a recent contribution as “the emergence of
‘Religion and Development’ (RaD) as a sub-discipline within the
discipline of Development Studies”
Barbara Bompani 2014. Beyond disciplinarity: Reflections on the study of
religion in international development. Religion & Theology 21(3-4): 309-333.
 My own reference to “the religious turn in the social science
interest in development”
 From the religious taboo in development studies – a phrase
coined by Kurt Alan Ver Beek in his landmark article of 2000 in
Development in Practice, “Spirituality: A development taboo” –
to an astounding rise in interest and flourishing of literature in the
last decade, in the field of development studies in particular but
a phenomenon that is also marked by a broader social science
interest by scholars from various disciplines.
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 An evolving major contribution to a new social theory about
religion posing a significant challenge to secularisation theory
 The rise of a bibliography:
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Compilation of 13 page bibliography (2014) reflecting the
increased break of Ver Beeks “taboo”
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21 books
Few examples:
Ter Haar, G. (ed.) 2011. Religion and Development: Ways of Transforming
the World. New York: Columbia University Press.
Clarke, M. (ed.) 2013. Handbook of Research on Development and
Religion. Edward Elgar Publishing (612 pp)
Tomalin, E. (ed.) 2015. Handbook of Religions and Global Development.
London: Routledge (458 pp).
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82 chapters in books
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6 special issues on R & D in Development 46(4) (2003);
Exchange 40(2011); Development in Practice 22(5-6)
(2012); International Development Policy Series (2013);
Canadian Journal of Development Studies (34(2) (2013);
International Journal of Religion and Society 4(1-2) (2013)
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66 journal articles
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5 reports and working papers

Informative article: Ben Jones & Marie Juul Petersen 2011.
Instrumental, narrow, normative? Reviewing recent work on
religion and development. Third World Quarterly 2011:12911306 – good overview but also critical

Conversation between theology and development debates
and R & D debate as a major challenge
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 Postscript: beyond the meta-debates in doing theology and
development – doing theology and development from / in
particular contexts
 Sara White & Romy Tiongco 1997. Doing theology and
development: Meeting the challenge of poverty. Edinburgh:
Saint Andrew Press.
-
inspired by the erstwhile course in Theology and Development
at Edinburgh University
-
Doing theology and development means to engage in the
cycle of experience, analysis, reflection and action in the
context of our relationship to God, and to one another as poor
and non-poor … This reflects the conviction that growing in
God should make a difference to how we relate to one
another, and that how we understand and act towards one
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another will shape our experience of God (p. 11).
 A South African theology and development debate
-
Promised much but very marginal to and neglected by the
centre of theological scholarship
-
A scattered debate in need of greater coherence and
conceptual depth
-
A debate that largely ignores the mega-debates
-
A debate in need of stock-taking: where are we and where
are we going with it?
-
Notable initiatives:
(1) The Stellenbosch initiative of some years ago, in particular the
initiative to adopt PAR as method.
See: Swart, I. et al. 2010. Religion and Social Development in Postapartheid South Africa: Perspectives for Critical Engagement:
Stellenbosch: SUN Press.
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Swart, I. 2008. Meeting the challenge of poverty and
exclusion: The emerging field of development research in
south African practical theology. International Journal of
Practical Theology 12(1):104-149.
(2) De Gruchy, S. et al. 2008. From Our Side: Emerging
Perspectives on Development and Ethics. Amsterdam:
Rozenberg.
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