This world and the next: The interrelationships of religion and development

Classical social theorists such as Marx, Weber, and Durkheim all predicted that modern society would inevitably secularize and that religion's role in the modern world would diminish. Following these classical theorists, development studies—starting with the early modernization theorists—viewed development and secularization as inextricably going hand in hand as part of a universal march towards progress and material abundance. In contradiction to these assumptions, however, religion has not disappeared from the world. In fact, a revival of religion is afoot in many countries. This is not simply a revival of individual religious belief, but of the public role of religion in shaping modern politics, public policy, and social welfare.;The central argument of this dissertation is posed against the assumption that development is the progression of society that occurs once the yoke of religion has been thrown off, and modern, secular, material progress is obtained through natural and economic science. Rather this dissertation argues that religion and spirituality are intricately interrelated to development in many societies both in terms of shaping understandings of what development is, as well as, how development is undertaken. The chapters of this dissertation provide examples from across the world of how religion and development are interrelated at every level of human society from the transformation of individual consciousness, to civil society organizations, to the state, to economic systems, to global social movements.;This dissertation draws on 200 interviews conducted in 9 countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Respondents were representatives of 155 secular and religious development organizations including, non-governmental organizations, faith-based development organizations, government departments, development policy agencies, multilateral development institutions, religious congregations with development projects, business alliances, and social movement organizations. Respondents were selected to represent as large a range as possible of both religious and secular organizations. The 200 interviews were analyzed interpretively to assess both the way that religious organizations and institutions are engaged in development, as well as the subjective meanings through which different people in a broad range of secular and religious development organizations understand development.