The dynamics of religion in international relations and development
This thesis investigates the problem of analysing religion in the study of international relations (IR), answering the need to build an IR framework that accommodates coexisting evidence for secularisation (the decreasing influence of religion) and sacralisation (the increasing influence of religion) in world politics. Part One lays a conceptual foundation, presenting three arguments. Firstly, three discourses of religion are inscribed across the general discourse of IR: the secular, sacral and integrated discourses. Second, together the discourses comprise the religious structure of IR. This construction encourages a situative approach (asking 'where is religion?') rather than a normative one (which asks 'what is religion?'). Third, the religious structure and the situative question combine to form the dynamics of religion model, a heuristic framework that meets the present need in IR to accommodate and differentiate secular, integrated and sacral elements of religion. Part Two operationalises the model via a study of religion in international development, occurring at three levels. At the level of discourse, 'orthodox' and 'critical' schools of development are situated within a religious structure, revealing the pervasive nature of religion throughout development theory. At the institutional level, the model is applied to analyse how religion entered the operational sphere of the World Bank Group (WBG). This application differentiates secular, integrated and sacral interests at work within and upon the WBG in the 1980s and 1990s, highlighting in new ways the ubiquity of religion in the development sphere. At the policy level, the model is applied to critically compare three 'faith and development' partnerships initiated by the WBG in the period 1998-2005. The model is then applied to a partnership between the WBG and the World Faiths Development Dialogue (WFDD), an initiative that began as an integrated vision of religion and development but gradually disintegrated. These studies highlight the significant ...
