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-----Original Message----- From: Philip Michael Fountain Dear all, Please see below for information on two upcoming conferences on religion and development, one in Oxford (August 16) and the other in Singapore (August 28-29). These will be of interest for anyone working on the critical study of contemporary international aid and development and each has a strong Asia focus. Regards, Philip Philip Michael Fountain National University of Singapore -------------- The Service of Faith: Christian Entanglements with International Development 10:30-17:30 Friday 16 August 2013 Ertegun House, 37A St. Giles', Oxford, OX1 3LD http://www.ertegun.ox.ac.uk/news-events/service-faith-christian-entanglements-international-development Symposium conveners: Tobias Tan, Ertegun House and Faculty of Theology, University of Oxford Philip Fountain, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore The past decade has witnessed a surge of scholarly interest into the relationships between religion and development with significant attention being given to Christian actors. Recent studies have examined the vast array of 'development-type' activities carried out by Christian organisations in health, education, poverty alleviation, refugee services, disaster relief etc. Transnational Christian service is a powerful dynamic shaping social imaginaries and development outcomes. Anthropology has been at the forefront of this emerging scholarship, helpfully illuminating the deep histories of Christian involvement in development and furnishing textured analyses of diverse Christian missionary and non-governmental actors. Also of direct relevance is the widely-heralded 'return of theology' in which theological concerns are again being located at the centre of academic enquiry. Various approaches to analysing the theological, including particularly 'political' and 'practical' concerns, are making incisive interventions into development debates. This symposium builds upon emerging anthropological and theological research on the entanglements between Christianity and development. It seeks to further expand the horizons of scholarly debate by attending to both theologies and practices. We aim to open new lines of enquiry by asking: How have interactions between Christianity and development reshaped each other? What are the genealogical and historical connections between various Christian traditions and the values, formations and practices of mainstream international development? What tensions have arisen between Christian and development (and within Christian development) actors and what do these reveal about the nature of development today? What directions should anthropological and theological analysis take in future research on development? Short provocations by leading scholars from anthropology and theology will help facilitate a broad-ranging interdisciplinary conversation which will open new spaces for rethinking analytical frameworks and move the debate about Christianity and development into new questions and arenas. This event is co-sponsored by the Ertegun Graduate Scholarship Programme in the Humanities, University of Oxford, and the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore. Admission is free of charge but registration is essential. RSVP to [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> by Monday 12 August 2013. Lunch and refreshments will be provided. For information about the schedule and list of speakers see the conference website: http://www.ertegun.ox.ac.uk/news-events/service-faith-christian-entanglements-international-development -------------- Religion and the Politics of Development: Priests, Potentates and "Progress" 28-29 August 2013 National University of Singapore http://www.ari.nus.edu.sg/events_categorydetails.asp?eventid=1369&categoryid=6 Conference conveners: Robin Bush, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore Philip Fountain, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore Development practitioners and academics alike are often kept awake at night with the vexing question of why development does not seem to be 'working'. Why are there still 2.6 billion poor on the planet? Why do children die from malnutrition every day in some of the world's richest countries? All of this despite $125 billion annually of public development dollars being poured into making things "better". Many explanations are offered for this, however one argument that has recently gained traction within development circles is the notion that development is inherently political, and hence political approaches are necessary to render it effective (Unsworth 2009). Allocating resources towards poverty alleviation rather than other priorities requires political will, not just technical training or instruments; development must face up to the primacy of politics (Leftwich 2005). Acknowledging this, major donors and development agencies have begun developing research projects and program strategies on 'working politically'. Glaringly absent in this discourse is analysis of the role of religious leaders, communities and discourses in impacting the political realities of development. This absence is despite the fact that the notion that religion and religious organizations have roles to play in development is no longer considered radical in development circles. Over the past decade several major research efforts have examined the role of religion in development initiatives, resulting in nuanced analysis of the multiple ways that religion engages with development, and vice-versa (Rakodi 2011; Marshall 2008). Yet in these initiatives there has been little explicit or thoroughgoing attention to the politics of religion in development, including the leverage that religious actors exert on political processes, the ways that development actors engage with religion, and the different religious visions of progress that inform practices of poverty alleviation. Priests, Potentates, and "Progress" will explore the nexus of religion, development, and politics in Asia. Any discussion of politics must pay close attention to the state and discussion at the conference will be informed by recent developments in religion-and-the-state theory. However, politics extends beyond the state and includes activity at communal-levels as well as global flows of ideas, finances, and institutions. We are interested in exploring religion and the politics of development at multiple levels (e.g. -municipal, provincial, national, transnational). The workshop will address the following topics (and related themes) as they relate to the Asian region: * Analysis of religion-state interactions for development, including attention to the changing roles and nature of religious authority, regimes, and secularization in Asia * Where and how donors and/or donor governments target religious groups for assistance for specific development goals or as part of broader foreign policy objectives; * The potentialities and constraints for religious groups to play significant roles in the Paris/Accra Aid Effectiveness discourse, the MDGs, and other mainstream development initiatives; * Exploration of ways that religious leaders/groups are mobilized by development actors (including state actors) and vice versa for "development" (e.g. service delivery, anti-corruption, advocacy); * How and under what circumstances and to what ends are religious leaders and organizations engaged in "political" approaches to poverty alleviation; * Analysis of the multiple and contrasting strategies of grassroots and quotidian religious political activism for development; * Religious and secular genealogies of development paradigms, strategies, and goals among particular actors and as an ideological infrastructure. For information about the schedule and list of speakers see the conference website: http://www.ari.nus.edu.sg/events_categorydetails.asp?eventid=1369&categoryid=6 The Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, gratefully acknowledges the generous contribution of the Initiative on Religion and International Affairs of the Henry Luce Foundation in co-sponsoring this conference. Admission is free. We would greatly appreciate if you RSVP to Jonathan Lee at Tel: 6516 4224 or Email: [log in to unmask] Philip Fountain (Dr) :: Research Fellow, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore :: NUS Bukit Timah Campus, 469A Tower Block, #8-25, Bukit Timah Road, Singapore 259770 :: +65 65166124 (DID) :: +65 81959917 (Mob) :: [log in to unmask] (E) :: www.ari.nus.edu.sg (W).