Overview
- Provides the first systematic study of the political voice of faith-based international humanitarian groups
- Analyzes the gaps and the linkages between social movements on global debt and immigration policy, and the established faith-based NGOs
- Highlights the limitations and the impact of religion and faith-based charities as a force for global justice and human rights
- Shows how faith-based NGOs – the charities that respond to global crises in the name of religion – can affect the moral and political voice of religious constituencies
- Connects the rich literature on NGOs as non-state political actors to debates on religious and faith-based humanitarianism
Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Religion, Politics, and Policy (PSRPP)
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About this book
This first study of faith-based development NGOs’ (FBOs) political roles focuses on how U.S. FBOs in international development educate and mobilize their constituencies. Most pursue cautious reformist agendas, but FBOs have sometimes played important roles in social movements. Nelson unpacks those political roles by examining the prominence of advocacy in the organizations, the issues they address and avoid, their transnational relationships, and their relationships with religious and secular social movements. The agencies that educate and mobilize U.S. constituencies most actively are associated with small Christian sects or with non-Christian minority faiths with historic commitments to activism or service. Specialized advocacy NGOs play important roles, and emerging movements on immigration and climate may represent fresh political energy. The book examines faith-based responses to the crises of climate change, COVID-19, and racial injustice, and argues that these will shape thefuture of religion as a moral and political force in America, and of NGOs in international development.
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Keywords
- faith-based organizations
- International Development
- FBO
- NGO
- Non-Governmental Organizations
- insider-lobbying
- religious community
- public policy
- advocacy
- social policy
- humanitarian groups
- faith-based charity
- global justice
- Religion and politics
- Religion & Development
- global South
- donor societies
- volunteering
- poor communities
- Non-profit
Table of contents (9 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Reviews
“American religious groups’ long history of international humanitarian assistance is well-documented. Less well understood is the role of American faith-based organizations in lobbying and advocating for humanitarian aid policies. Nelson’s book illuminates an important dimension of such policy advocacy: these organizations' strategies for mobilizing donors and co-religionists to support their advocacy efforts. This well-written volume enriches our understanding of faith-based organizations as policy entrepreneurs and shapers of religious public opinion, and should be read by scholars, policymakers, and practitioners of international humanitarian assistance.” (—Susan McCarthy, Professor of Political Science, Providence College, USA)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Paul J. Nelson is Associate Professor of International Development at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA), University of Pittsburgh, USA. Before joining the university in 1998 he worked for several faith-related non-governmental organizations (NGOs). He has published research on the World Bank, transnational NGO advocacy, religion and development, human rights-based development, and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Religious Voices in the Politics of International Development
Book Subtitle: Faith-Based NGOs as Non-state Political and Moral Actors
Authors: Paul J. Nelson
Series Title: Palgrave Studies in Religion, Politics, and Policy
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68964-3
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Political Science and International Studies, Political Science and International Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-68963-6Published: 16 April 2021
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-68966-7Published: 17 April 2022
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-68964-3Published: 15 April 2021
Series ISSN: 2731-6769
Series E-ISSN: 2731-6777
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XVIII, 225
Number of Illustrations: 3 b/w illustrations
Topics: Politics and Religion, Development Studies, Public Policy