Keywords

religion, development, public

Objectives

Since the latter half of the twentieth century, a global revival of religion has been accompanied by growing influence of religion in the public sphere. A factor behind these developments may have been the shrinkage of national spending resulting from the penetration of neoliberal economics and a subsequent decline in social and welfare services. Religions (believers and congregations or other religious bodies) construct their own networks and, then, in many cases, collaborate with local communities, foreign aid donors, and international NGOs. The active involvement of religion in social development has become a global trend.
This research project has sites in Asia and Oceania, regions where the involvement of religion in development has been especially pronounced. The project is focused on two objectives. The first is to assemble ethnographic case studies of the involvement of religions in fields such as economic development, medicine and public hygiene, and education. The second is to identify issues posed by these developments for society as a whole, by clarifying the ways in which they affect society at large, and changes in society. Both objectives will be pursued in an effort to develop perspectives that transcend the limitations of current post-secularization theory.

Research Results

Previous studies mainly took the developmental study approach or the religious study approach. In studies that adopted the former approach, religion was positioned as the supporting pillar of human life in recipient countries, and its importance as the key to alternative development was discussed with focus on its spiritual and organizational aspects. In contrast, studies that adopted the latter approach analyzed the establishment of a civil society and good governance from the point of view of post-secularism theories that presuppose Western religious concepts and religio-secular relationships surrounding social participation and development by religious organizations. Although the previous studies tended to emphasize and regard in a positive light the organizational and networking aspects of a religion, they excluded the points of view of ordinary followers from the discussion. Because of this, any context unique to the community as the subject of those studies was taken for granted, and the actual religious experiences of ordinary followers were overlooked.
For instance, in this research project, a report was made on a development project aiming at obtaining cash income and eradicating poverty through collaborations between religious organizations and international aid organizations. It was reported that in such a case, religious figures tended to introduce the development project in accordance with Western-development-related discourse and remarks, and explain it to their followers using secular terms. This was because religious elements tended to be eliminated from a development project after public money from international bodies was injected into it. (This phenomenon has led to the issue of a religious organization being transformed into a servant of an international organization or a nation, and the issue of marginalization of people who do not belong to that particular religious organization.) In contrast to the thinking of religious figures promoting the development project, some ordinary followers interpreted the religious figures' secular words as a divine message or a path to religious salvation. People outside the religious organization were critical, saying that religion should not promote money-making or that it is unfair that only one particular religious organization receives aid. This had increased friction among religious organizations.
As described above, compared with a development project managed by a secular organization, that managed by a religious organization is more likely to produce results unintended by aid providers, including religious figures. Therefore, it is important to collect and discuss ethnographical case examples on the basis of a solid understanding of the socio-historical context surrounding these phenomena, including politico-religious relationships and religio-secular relationships. Moreover, whether or not a religion can have an element of publicness depends largely on the situation surrounding it. Previous studies tended to look at the positive side of religion-led development work. Our research, which took the above factors into consideration, revealed negative aspects that might have been concealed by positive ones, such as rifts and severances between the followers of a religion, and in some cases, the exclusivity and violent tendency of the religion studied.