Religious Organisations in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia

This book explores the links between religion, states, social welfare and social change. It uses the analytical framework developed in an earlier volume by the same author, which examined how religion is intertwined in the lives of people living in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Building on her analysis of religious beliefs, practices and values and how these influence social behaviour and relationships, especially within families, it focuses on the organisational characteristics of religions and societies.It reviews empirical research on the social roles of religious organisations, which maps the organisations involved, describes the involvement of religious actors in international humanitarian relief and reconstruction, and addresses the claim that religious organisations have distinctive features that give them comparative advantages. This, among other themes, is central to research that assesses the ways in which the religious values of charity and compassion are expressed in practical activities to improve social welfare. Chapters on Muslim, Christian, Hindu and Buddhist organisations working in different contexts identify the factors that explain their choice of activities, sources of funding and modes of organisation, identifying similarities and differences between the religious traditions. Their engagement in school level education is also analysed. Finally, research on the roles of religious values and organisations in resisting or promoting social change is reviewed, focusing on women's movements, especially their campaigns for changes in family law, and the quest for social and legal recognition for sexual and gender minorities.The book's wide coverage of two subcontinents in the global South and several important religious traditions will be of interest to researchers and students in a range of disciplines, especially the sociology of religion, development studies and religious studies, but also anthropology, geography and area studies, as well as those engaged in policy and action who recognise the importance of improving their understanding of the complex social, cultural, political and religious contexts in which they work.