The Stakes of Religious Questions

The Stakes of Religious Questions: Aspen France, Lyon, July 1-3, 2004

Economic and Social Dimensions of Religions: Introductory Remarks, Katherine Marshall, July 1

The Presentation and Issues

            My remarks first summarize the basic line of argument that there is a vital need for more dialogue about religion and development.  Second, I focus on some immediate, pending issues that illustrate the importance of the respective roles of faith and development institutions in global affairs   Third, I outline briefly the path the World Bank has followed in recent years in moving to strengthen its understanding of and alliance with institutions of religion.  And finally, I suggest some possible topics for a future agenda of research and dialogue.

Why Religions and Development Institutions need new forms of Dialogue and Alliance

The starting point is the distinct and historic separation and segmentation of the worlds of economic and social development and those of religion and faith.   This distinction applies more generally in the overall economic and institutional architecture of our times, with roots above all in the historic separation of Church and state in most western democracies, but also with ties to the Cold War period, to the evolution of the economics profession itself, and to international, inter-demoninational, and national tensions surrounding such issues as women’s reproductive health.  It is illustrative that in a lengthy history written about the first half century of the World Bank, religion in any form appears only once in the index.  Thus, by tradition, practice, and deliberate decision, the institutions devoted to international development at a global level have seldom interacted with institutions and issues of religion in a formal way.  The guiding principle has been that state – i.e. public policy and institutions – and church – the institutions of faith – remain separate.

This distinction is to a significant extent more formal than real, more apparent than actual.   In reality, there are important intersections at each junction and in many fields, because in practice there is much overlap between the two worlds.  The primary reason is that both the development institutions and most religious traditions and institutions have a deep and fundamental grounding in concern about poverty and poor communities, and thus their work, ideas, advocacy, and tensions encounter each other at many turns.  There is the important exception of nongovernmental organizations which are grounded in faith traditions and institutions (faith based NGOs or FBOs), many of which have for decades worked in close collaboration with a wide range of development institutions.  It bears note, however, that these are predominantly Christian and the links with non-Christian organizations (for example Muslim, Buddhist and others) are less significant and less clearly defined. The distinction tends to be more marked for the multilateral development banks, which work primarily through ministries of finance and planning, than with other development agencies (bilateral aid agencies, for example, but also some United Nations specialized agencies like UNFPA and ILO), which have long recognized the important roles of faith institutions in achieving results in the areas  where they are engaged.

            This barrier dividing the worlds of religion and development is being called into question in many ways and there is today a broadening recognition that the two worlds are and need to be linked in important respects.  Five major reasons for the contemporary rethinking can be highlighted:

(a) Above all, there is an important new global consensus about poverty, reflected most visibly in the Millennium Declaration, signed by all world leaders in September 2000.  This is now reflected in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which set timetables, measurable targets, and specific accountability.  These goals necessarily involve both development and faith institutions, though as yet there is not a full appreciation of how far both are truly engaged.

(b) Rethinking about globalization, poverty issues, the role of the market economy, and democracy (in various combinations) has generated new reflections about broader and multidisciplinary facets of development thinking.  The Jubilee campaign around the year 2000 transformed the way debt issues were discussed and prompted new actions.  More broadly all actors are forced by the rapidity of global change, sharp differences in views on its impact and import, and practical challenges to examine issues and institutions in new ways.

  (c)   The explosive development of civil society over the past decades has opened up new ways  of addressing issues, and this has in turn affected faith institutions.

(d)        The reflections on market economies and the confrontations in many settings (prominent among them advocacy for development assistance) about corruption issues have been part of developments that have prompted new thinking about business ethics.  This in turn has encouraged dialogue between business and faith leaders in a variety of settings.

(e)        The tragic events of September 11, 2001 have jolted many paradigms and assumptions about linear progress.  The complex linkages among poverty, sentiments about social injustice, inequality, cultural differences, and instability and terrorism engage religious leaders and institutions for many reasons, including the degree to which religiously based tensions and violence are involved.

In practice, there is far more experience with partnerships among faith and development institutions than is commonly known.  These partnerships have made a material contribution to successful social transformations in important cases – witness the role of alliances among leadership across sectors in Uganda in fighting HIV/AIDS, to role of Buddhist communities in the rebuilding of Cambodia, and the successes of the Community of Sant’Egidio in linking work on poverty to conflict mediation.[i]  Understanding and reflecting more on these examples is an important priority if one accepts the hypothesis that only with creative and dynamic new forms of partnerships can we achieve success in the future.

And this is indeed my working hypothesis – that the fight against poverty is the central issue on which future historians will judge our times and our generations.  The challenges are clear, compelling from both moral and practical vantage points.  To use an element of the jargon of our day, the links between faith and development are “part of the problem and part of the solution”.  We need to look to a dynamic kaleidoscope of new alliances and partnerships that involve both faith and development institutions if we are to meet the demands of our times.

Some Pending Issues

It may be useful to distinguish three levels of issues where religion and development meet: the very practical and often immediate, dialogue about the broader and most complex challenges that lie ahead, and issues that involve broad questions of values and ethics.

It takes little imagination to trace a complex web of topics and relationships that link faith and development institutions to the contemporary development agenda.  Perhaps the most obvious and critical issue is HIV/AIDS.  It is also illustrative of both problems and potential.  The problems are quite apparent: it involves the tragic story of long years of denial of the problem (by faith and political leaders), and a continuing pattern of believing that HIV/AIDS will not affect a given society until the pandemic is so deeply established that it is nigh irreversible.  Services and institutions for social service are then overwhelmed by the effort to respond to the disease.  But, on the positive side, we are seeing in faith after faith, parish by parish and denomination by denomination an upswelling of concern and compassion.  What is most needed in the fight against HIV/AIDS is action at community level, and this demands the full engagement of faith institutions.  The challenges to these institutions are enormous and a common effort is urgently needed to ensure that funds are well and honestly used and that lessons of experience are shared across communities and countries.  In short, this is a classic story of a critically needed set of partnerships, and the good news is that, in a jerky fashion and with considerable difficulty, these are taking shape quite rapidly in many countries.

Other practical issues, where there is direct engagement of faith and development institutions, include health, education, social welfare, and care for land management and natural resources.  While it has not been the common practice to engage faith institutions in the dialogue about these issues in most developing countries, where they play a large role on the ground this makes eminent sense.  There is considerable positive experience building on engagement in sector dialogue on health (example of Tanzania) and on the new strategic framework exercises that are to help direct national and international effort towards effective anti-poverty efforts: the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper process (PRSP).

            Common dialogue and action on these very tangible and operational issues can bring important results and help break down barriers to understanding and cooperation.  They can also open the door to dialogue and understanding on broader and more fundamental issues.  Efforts some years ago to engage with faith institutions on different understandings about the causes and nature of poverty helped to enrich the important World Development Report on poverty produced by the World Bank in 2000-2001.  Similar reflections on issues for access to services also opened doors to thinking.  Dialogue, even with tension and friction, around debt issues and topics such as privatization plays an important role.  As we reflect on the complex agenda ahead, where issues of equity, global governance and democratic architecture, the role of cultural tensions assume great importance, it is evident that there is much potential for mutual learning and real collaboration between institutions which are deeply engaged in these issues.

            A major question of our times is how far different nations will support the global war against poverty and for social justice, with real effort and with resources.  Here there is obvious scope for common advocacy, combining positive examples of what can be achieved and   blending the moral and practical arguments for action.  Relative numbers such as: global spending of about US$900-1000 million a year on military expenditures, US$350 billion on agricultural subsidies, and US$60 billion on international development resonate equally well in development and faith circles.

            The most complex and perhaps most interesting area in the search for common ground and potential collaboration is on global ethics.  The world’s great religions bring millennia of reflection on fundamental ethical issues and work such as that led by Hans Kung has resulted in quite clear articulation of elements of a common global ethic.  This common ethic – including for example the many versions of the “golden rule” (do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you), admonitions against stealing and killing, and calls to compassion for those who suffer and are excluded, links those working on development issues from many vantage points.  It provides a solid basis for thoughtful dialogue about both the areas of agreement but also areas of tension – for example the role of material wealth and property and gender roles. 

            A particularly interesting example of dialogue grounded in many common values is the Fes Colloquium on “Giving Soul to Globalization”.  A part of the respected annual Fes Festival of Global Sacred Music, the Colloquium has for four years brought together radically opposing views on aspects of globalization with an understanding that, despite the frictions and fundamentally differing visions for the future, there is sufficient common ground to discuss and reach a better understanding.  Many more instances of such dialogue are needed in today’s world, aiming both at respect and understanding across cultures and at a passionate search for creative solutions to the intractable problems of our times.

            In sum, even while respecting that each country, in the light of its history and culture, needs to define the respective roles of church and state in their society, new thinking and new partnerships are needed today, and nowhere more so than in confronting the global challenges of poverty and inequality.  New thinking is needed to address effectively the many practical ways in which faith and development institutions intersect so that their efforts add up to a greater, not a lesser whole.  Dialogue on the complex social questions before us – gender roles, equity, role of the state and individual rights for example – will be richer and better if faith and development agencies are thoughtfully engaged.  And new alliances are needed to bring positive social change both at national and international levels.

The World Bank’s Venture in Linking Development and Religion

The story of the World Bank’s engagement with the world of faith and religion over the past eight years is instructive as a reflection of the changing global debates, both of the pitfalls and complexities of such dialogue, and of its real potential for enhancing the quality of work and partnerships.

The World Bank had engaged little with religions except in isolated cases and instances, and in the late 1990s, there was considerable tension in relationships, for example in discussions about structural adjustment policies, and witnessed in the Jubilee movement which confronted the issue of international debt.  A small initiative to enhance dialogue was launched in 1998 under the leadership of Lord Carey of Clifton (former archbishop of Canterbury) and James D. Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank. It initially took the form of two small meetings of global faith and development leaders, but the intention was to create an independent institution, the World Faiths Development Dialogue (WFDD) which would bring the voices and ideas of leaders from the worlds of faith, politics, and economics, together.  The idea was that all would share a commitment to learn from each other and remain open to transformation as a result of greater understanding.  Actors from the worlds of philanthropy, the arts, and the private sector—whether propelled by the horror of armed conflict, poverty, HIV/AIDS, or child suffering—have also joined this dialogue. 

It was startling to the leaders concerned when this initiative confronted strong opposition from the governing body of the World Bank, its executive directors.  They raised a number of concerns about the dialogue effort, and the debate on how far it should go and in what direction remains to this day largely unresolved.

What were the arguments advanced?  The principle concern was what was viewed as the political nature of religion, both in a practical sense, of choosing which leaders to engage but also more broadly in venturing into the controversial territory of church state relations.  Another concern and argument related to what was perceived by some as the negative role of religion in the development area, with particular importance for debates on the role of women and reproductive health rights.  Finally, there were a set of arguments that essentially questioned the priority and relevance of the dialogue – that essentially saw religion as opposed in many respects to the fundamental goals of development institutions.

            At this stage, the discussion continues and the WFDD is very much in a transitional stage.  The World Bank’s president remains more convinced than ever that a creative dialogue process is a critical ingredient to the development agenda, for the World Bank and other institutions.  In many respects the practical agenda has advanced and there are an abundance of reflections and dialogue processes underway that engage faith and development institutions in many areas.  It can be argued that the dialogue to date has indeed opened new windows to relationships and above all insight and ideas, and that these point to a much larger potential in the future.  Nonetheless, the sensitivity of and tensions around the discussions of religion and its role in the public policy domain have emerged as a clear lesson and issue for the future.

Agenda Ahead?

            This presentation has sketched both history and issues, with the underlying argument that there is a rich scope for dialogue, alliance, and action, much of it under-explored, in the common ground linking faith and development institutions and the fight against global poverty.  In reflecting on priorities for the future, I advance four areas as possible anchors for future discussion:

(a)    Discussion of a careful and action oriented research agenda, that would address both areas of myth and assumption and poorly understood areas.  How much do we know about current religious institution work in health?  About Muslim education systems?  About church and other land management?  About how beliefs reflect on incentives?

(b)    Dialogue processes to confront confrontations and work towards better understanding.  The issues of “clash of civilizations” involving Islamic societies are the most discussed example of tensions but there are many others, not least the tensions between worlds of faith and development. 

(c)    Creative use of case studies to explore lessons and issues arising from many concrete experiences of creative partnerships and advocacy alliances.

(d)    Possible task/working groups to advance dialogue on contentious issues such as gender, wealth, and public/private sector roles.

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August 2, 2004 3:45 PM