Author(s): Collen, Vanessa
Date: 2011
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/3378
Origin: Repositório da UTL
Subject(s): international development; development cooperation; transformational development; holistic development; integral mission; partnership approach; evangelical organisations
Masters in Development and International Cooperation
This dissertation explores the role evangelical development organisations play in the field of international development and the nature of this involvement. Specifically, the nature and scope of evangelical development organisations' involvement in the field of international development along with changes that have taken place, the approaches towards development held by evangelical development actors, the role of 'faith' in the organisations' actions and strategies, the skills and qualifications of the development agents, the organisations' partnerships, and funding and donors' attitudes were investigated. A qualitative research approach was employed and an open questionnaire was designed and sent by mail to fifteen of the initially contacted organisations. Subsequently, content analysis of the filled-out questionnaires and textual analysis of annual reports and other relevant information was carried out. The main ideas developed in this dissertation are that: (1) the main advantage that evangelical development organisations have over their secular peers lies in their partnership approach, and, through demonstrating the benefits that partnering with local churches and community-based organisations can bring, they have the potential to bring new perspectives to the development discourse, and that (2) by adopting a multi-dimensional 'holistic' approach different from mainstream conceptions of development, called transformational development, evangelical development actors may nurture the development discourse in the search for new and more adequate approaches to development which focus not merely on economic growth but on multiple aspects of development.
