Jeffrey Haynes

Religion and Development

The aim of this chapter is to provide readers with: intellectual tools to judge intelligently contemporary arguments concerning interactions between religion and politics in the developing world; the ability to relate such issues to contemporary policy issues including development outcomes.

Transnational religious actors and international politics

This article generally examines the phenomenon of transnational religious actors and seeks to assess the claim that their activities can undermine state sovereignty. It starts from the premise that globalisation facilitates the growth of transnational networks of religious actors. Feeding off each others ideas and perhaps aiding each other with funds, they are bodies whose main priority is the well-being and advance of their transnational religious community. The article focuses upon two specific transnational religious actors: the Roman Catholic Church and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. It concludes by noting that, like Islamic radicals, the Catholic Church has been influential in some national contexts in helping undermine the hegemony of authoritarian governments, but that this should not be seen as a more general threat to state sovereignty.

Conflict, Conflict Resolution and Peace-Building: The Role of Religion in Mozambique, Nigeria and Cambodia

Confounding the expectations of secularists, religion has a strong – perhaps growing – significance as a key source of identity for millions of people, especially in the developing world. In recent years, religion has made a muted but tangible impact in Western development circles, most commonly reflecting the view that religious hatreds and differences are central to many recent and current conflicts in the developing world. This paper argues that religion can both encourage conflict and build peace, reflecting growing evidence that religious forces can play a constructive role in helping to resolve conflicts. Religious individuals and faith-based organisations, as carriers of religious ideas, can play important roles, not only as a source of conflict but also as a tool for conflict resolution and peace-building, providing early warnings of conflict, good offices once conflict has erupted, and contributing to advocacy, mediation and reconciliation. Brief case studies of religious peacemakers – from Mozambique, Nigeria and Cambodia – demonstrate attempts, characteristically partially successful, to reconcile previously warring communities, thereby helping to achieve greater social cohesion, and providing a crucial foundation for progress in enhancing human development.

Islamic Militancy in East Africa

Abstract This paper examines the relative political significance of domestic and transnational Islamic militancy in three East African countries: Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. It seeks to identify, describe and account for the sources and significance of such militancy, with a focus upon the significance of al-Qaeda and regional affiliates. The paper argues that, encouraged by the post-9/11 international fall out, regional Islamic networks work towards improving the perceived low political and economic status of Muslims in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. At present, however, the political significance of Islamic militancy in the three countries is low.

Religion and democratization in Africa

Two main issues form the focus of attention in this study. The first is the relationship of senior religious figures to the state in Africa and the role of the former in the regions democratization in the 1990s. The second is the political importance of ‘popular’ religions in Africa. The overall aim is to examine the relationship of religion and politics in Africa in the context of democratization, to: (1) establish the nature of the links between senior religious figures and state elites in Africa, (2) make some preliminary observations about the political nature of popular religions in the region, and (3) comment on the overall impact of religious actors on Africas democratization.

Religion and Foreign Policy Making in the USA, India and Iran: towards a research agenda

Abstract This article is concerned with religious soft power in foreign policy making through a focus on the foreign policies of the USA, India and Iran. It suggests that, if religious actors ‘get the ear’ of key foreign policy makers because of their shared religious beliefs, the former may become able to influence foreign policy outcomes through the exercise of religious soft power. In relation to the above-mentioned countries, the article proposes that several named religious actors do significantly influence foreign policy through such a strategy. It also notes that such influence is apparent not only when key policy makers share religious values, norms and beliefs but also when policy makers accept that foreign policy should be informed by them.

Religion, ethnicity and civil war in Africa: The cases of Uganda and Sudan

Abstract This paper focuses upon two former British colonies—Uganda and Sudan—to illustrate the contention that civil wars in Africa are typically rooted in religio-ethnic competition and conflict. Such conflicts are normally exacerbated by group competition for material resources in circumstances of developmental failures and political instability. To attempt to deal with the problems that cause religious and ethnic conflict leading to civil war, it is necessary for African countries, including Uganda and Sudan, meaningfully to democratise – to the extent that the great majority of citizens feel that they have a stake in their countrys political future. The chances of such an outcome are improved when economies show signs of growing over time and when governments manage to disseminate developmental gains relatively equitably.

Democratic Consolidation in Africa: The Problematic Case of Ghana

In Africa, many countries, including Ghana, have post-authoritarian regimes. Democratically, to what extent do they differ from their authoritarian predecessors? The evidence presented here suggests that, while there are some signs of democratic consolidation in Ghana, democracy is not yet habitualised. The focus is on both the Jerry Rawlings government (1981-2001), and the successor regime, headed by John Kufuor (2001- ). The overall conclusion is that Kufuor has attempted to distance his rule, both stylistically and in policy terms, from that of Rawlings. However, he has found that, like his predecessor, he is forced to work with international and domestic structures that undermine attempts to deliver changes to the substance of rule.

Conflict, Conflict Resolution and Peace-building

In recent years, religion has made a remarkable return to prominence in Western development circles. Confounding the expectations of secularists, religion has a strong — perhaps growing — significance as a strong source of identity for millions of people in the developing world. Consequently, religious individuals and faith-based organisations, as carriers of religious ideas, play an important role in many societies, both as a source of conflict and as a tool for conflict resolution and peace-building. Religious hatreds and differences are central to many recent and current conflicts in the developing world. There is also evidence that religious forces can also play a constructive role in helping resolve them and build peace, via early warnings of conflict, good offices once conflict has erupted, as well as advocacy, mediation, and reconciliation. This chapter highlights how religion can (1) both encourage conflict and peace in the developing world, and (2) offers examples — from Mozambique, Nigeria and Cambodia — of religious peacemakers who are significant in attempts to reconcile previously warring communities and achieve social cohesion, crucial foundations of progress in human development.

Islam and democracy in East Africa

This study examines the relative political significance of domestic and transnational Islamic militancy in three East African countries: Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. It seeks to identify, describe and account for the sources and significance of such militancy and to relate how it impacts upon democratization outcomes. The analysis reaches three conclusions: first, encouraged by the post-9/11 international fall-out, regional Islamic networks are working towards improving the perceived low political and economic status of Muslims in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda; second, the political significance of Islamic militancy in the three countries is relatively low; and third, various Islamic initiatives are important in the pursuit of more democratic polities.