Religion and secularism in development: trends in the approaches of bilateral donors in Canada and the United Kingdom
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Date
2016
Authors
Schroeder, Kristy Bergman
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Abstract
This thesis examines the ways in which the Canadian and British bilateral donors—the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA, now Global Affairs Canada) and the Department for International Development (DFID)—have approached the intersections of religion and development. While DFID has been increasingly attentive to the topic, no significant government initiatives on religion in development have been launched by its Canadian counterpart since the early 1990s. Despite their seemingly divergent approaches to religion, the aid cultures of both donors are shaped by Western assumptions about “religion” and “the secular” that are not always shared by program communities. These assumptions, which are evident in both funding patterns and discourse, have the potential to marginalize local perspectives. Government donors exude significant influence on contemporary development practice and thus have the potential to play an important role in efforts to reform the dominant aid culture; however, given the intersecting inequalities manifest on both a global and local level, such efforts are convoluted and contentious.
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Keywords
Religion, Development, Foreign aid, Canada, Britain