Connecting in spirit: Relationships in international development: A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Abstract

Organisations involved in planning and delivering international development projects, and their recipient partners, can hold worldviews that conflict with each other’s. How the parties negotiate tensions, explicit or implicit, between these worldviews could be important for project success. I investigated how these interactions are managed using a typology of three parties in a triangular relationship: recipients, faith-based organisations (FBOs), and secular organisations. Over these I ran the theoretical lens of Habermasian post-secularity, which advocates for a substantive role for religion in public life. The research concluded that FBOs and the recipient, less-developed world, which is generally profoundly religious, can, through religion, and regardless of what that religion is, have a natural rapport. This recipient-FBO bond is likely to be the strongest and most open bond in that triangle of relationships. On another leg of the triangle, Western-based FBOs, while wrestling with their own identity and role, could be considered to have the tools to connect satisfactorily with their compatriot secular colleagues. By way of contrast secular organisations will face an additional and often high barrier of an absence of religious faith when trying to achieve trusting relationships with recipient groups. This research found that, within Habermas’s original focus area, that is within Western secular nations, there are distinct limits to the practice of post-secularity, and these limits are more stark when considering the triangle of relationships in international development. An extension to Habermas’s views is that the research showed value in not just listening but also engaging and debating views as a pathway to achieving true partnership. The research also shows that New Zealand practice in integrating religion and development is lagging behind best international practice. The thesis identifies applications for improved relationships in managing aid and development, including suggesting a role for FBOs as facilitators in communicating across worldviews. Aspects of communication theory, particularly regarding assonance and dissonance, provide a helpful perspective, as does a model of worldviews that uses the concept of an ‘excluded middle’ to contrast spiritual worldviews with secularity. Agency theory offers another relevant worldview base for understanding relationships, with Western organisations, both secular and faith-based, having a similar perspective that is different from the views of many in the less-developed world. The thorny issue of proselytising was found to be misunderstood, with political and secular attempts to change worldviews being more common, more radical and often more coercive than religious proselytising. The thesis notes the need for further research on the effects on development outcomes of both religious faith and better relationships; on global trends in religiosity; and on factors that inhibit adoption of a spirit of post-secularity.