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- Convenors:
-
Emma Tomalin
(University of Leeds)
Jennifer Philippa Eggert
Send message to Convenors
- Formats:
- Roundtables
- Stream:
- Decolonial and anti-racist perspectives
- Sessions:
- Monday 28 June, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
This roundtable brings together researchers and practitioners to discuss the nexus of decolonisation, development and faith. It explores the contribution, limitations and complicity of faith actors and researchers in the development/aid sector from a decolonised and anti-racist perspective.
Long Abstract:
This research/practice roundtable focuses on the nexus of decolonisation, development and faith. Debates on anti-racist and decolonised approaches amongst development/humanitarian researchers and practitioners acknowledge that local communities are central agents in their own liberation, yet they continue to be marginalised in decision-making and resource allocation by large parts of the international aid/development sector. The majority of people worldwide identify with a faith. The role of faith is often particularly strong in the 'Global South'. Local capacities, social capital, leadership, expertise, networks and service provision are often faith-based. Ignoring the contribution of faith in development/aid devalues pivotal dimensions of people's lived experiences and diminishes their sources of power, legitimacy, accountability and resilience. An inability to speak authentically as faith actors contributes to the erasure of non-white cultures and non-Western faiths. Yet faith actors are not immune from anti-racist and decolonial critique, and often have complex and contested histories that involve colonialism, missionaries, and conversions. Faith communities have a mixed record when it comes to challenging racism and other forms of systemic discrimination. Faith-based organisations perpetuate the same white supremacist culture and racist and (neo)colonial development and faith legacies as the broader aid/development sector, by failing to acknowledge colonial legacies, neo-colonial practices, the dominance of Western theological constructs, complicity in broader racist structures, and hierarchical power dynamics. Research on religion and development has not sufficiently contended with these concepts, if at all. This panel aims to give a higher profile to this much needed debate.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Monday 28 June, 2021, -Paper short abstract:
Faith based organisations have long engaged in interventions to alleviate poverty. Using the lens of liberation theology, this paper advances the need for a practical theology that addresses the socio-economic context of poverty, and argues that development is at its core, a quest for justice.
Paper long abstract:
Faith based organizations, local and international, have long engaged in interventions to alleviate poverty. Less prominent however, has been the attempt to address the political and economic injustices that are often the cause of poverty and inequality. Liberation theology applies Christian theology to political, social and economic oppression. First articulated in Latin American in the 1960s, the practical theology that addresses injustice and oppression has found expression in various forms and in different locations and time periods. In post-independent Kenya, the advent of multi-party democracy, referred to as the second liberation, was marked by political oppression and intimidation. A small cadre of clerics spoke publicly against these injustices, leading to a backlash from both political and faith leaders. In the time period since the inception of multi-party rule, political and economic injustices have continued albeit in different forms. These include oppressive international trade practices, inequitable distribution of resources, corruption and politically instigated ethnic polarisation. This paper examines the role of faith in going beyond alleviating poverty, to address the injustices that lie at the root of poverty and inequality. Using the lens of liberation theology and the engagement of faith leaders during the multi-party advent in Kenya, this paper advances the need for a practical theology that addresses the socio-economic context of poverty, and argues that development is at its core, a quest for justice.
Paper short abstract:
This contribution, drawing empirically from an ongoing study on race, faith and development within Christian Aid country programmes will apply a feminist and liberation theology lens to the intersection of faith, development and decolonisation.
Paper long abstract:
This contribution, drawing empirically from an ongoing study on race, faith and development within Christian Aid country programmes, will apply a feminist and liberation theology lens to the intersection of faith, development and decolonisation. What needs dismantling or 're-learning'? What dominant intellectual toolkits need to be de-centred?
Paper short abstract:
In this paper, I will describe the historical origins of tax havens in what Ogle terms archipelago capitalism. I then explain how they continue to contribute to the plunder of the global south and what implications this has for resources deprivation today.
Paper long abstract:
Vanessa Ogle has demonstrated that tax havens originated as a location for fleeing colonialists to stash their funds as their colonial power diminished. This practice has continued in the present with multinationals now extracting circa $200 billion per year from the global south. I will describe these phenomena and talk about their development implications within a faith perspective.
I'm an academic theologian but for the last 18 months have been working as a practitioner for Church Action for Tax Justice, a campaigning organisation.
Paper short abstract:
Kirsten Laursen Muth, Chief Executive Officer of the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities (JLI), will share her reflections on JLI’s commitment and plans to address Racial Justice and Decolonising Development, focusing on the why and how of the JLI’s work in this area.
Paper long abstract:
The Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities (JLI) is an international collaboration to develop and communicate evidence on local faith actors’ roles and contributions to development and humanitarian action for community well-being. Kirsten Laursen Muth, Chief Executive Officer of JLI, will share reflections on JLI’s Plan on Racial Justice and Decolonising Development. She will focus on the rationale behind JLI’s approach and discuss how the JLI works with its network to implement decolonized and anti-racist approaches. The presentation will highlight priority actions for the JLI to work across its membership in support of the continued struggle to decolonise development and end racism. It will outline implications across JLI’s key objectives: evidence and research; dissemination and communication; and informed debate and influence. Recognising that it cannot address the whole spectrum of decolonisation, the JLI has decided to focus on three priorities over the next two years, as part of an ongoing commitment to ensuring its partnerships and joint learning platforms are fully equitable and do not privilege Northern and Western organisations. This includes: (1) regional listening dialogues, led by local/national FBOs, to critically reflect on diversity, equity and inclusion in the JLI, by confronting asymmetries of power and identifying demonstrable pathways to change; (2) global webinar series with academics and practitioners from different regions to discuss decolonising research and joint learning partnerships; (3) theological dialogue on decolonisation, bringing together diverse theological/spiritual perspectives into multi-faith discursive dialogue on the intersection of theology, development, and critical race theory.