Tamsin Bradley

Does Compassion Bring Results? a critical Perspective on Faith and Development

This article explores the relationship between the Christian concept of compassion and the work of Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in the Developing World. The article focuses on the work of a UK donor, NGO whose members express a Christian faith. The membership of this NGO is highly motivated and they have maintained a long-term commitment to the communities they help in rural Rajasthan. However, the success of this NGO is constrained by their construction of a poor underdeveloped Other who is the focus of their prayers and towards whom all interventions are directed. This image of the suffering Rajasthani villager is fictitious and blocks the emergence of a complex picture of life in this region. This article stresses that whilst faith has much to offer development practice it can also render people blind to the experiences and needs of others.

A call for clarification and critical analysis of the work of faith-based development organizations (FBDO)

This article compares and contrasts three groups of faith–based development organizations (FBDOs). The first group consists of community–based FBDOs. The second are intermediaries acting as a bridge between larger donors and community organizations. Last, there are missionary organizations that work with local communities but see development primarily as religious conversion. This comparison allows clarification over what constitutes an FBDO and also highlights the variety of ways in which faith intersects with development in the work of different FBDOs. The use of two analytical frames assessing the faith of organizations along a continuum and then measuring the position of FBDOs within an aid chain, emphasizes the need to acknowledge the diversity of factors that both limit and contribute to the success of an FBDO.

Physical religious spaces in the lives of Rajasthani village women: ethnographic study and practice of religion in development

This article explores the positive contribution a focus on physical religious spaces makes to development practice. By taking an ethnographic approach in studying religious spaces it is possible for practitioners of development to understand the values and beliefs of adherents, which can help them forge closer, more empathetic relationships with local people. This approach is particularly useful in listening to the experiences of marginalized groups whose views are more quietly voiced. An example is given of a group of Hindu women who shared stories of domestic violence within a ritual space they created for this purpose. A faith‐based development organization offered the women a secure environment to perform this ritual. This same faith‐based development organization used religious spaces in their daily practice as sites for communication with local communities and personal reflection.

Religion as a bridge between theory and practice in work on violence against women in Rajasthan

This article shows how a focus on religion can highlight how and why violence is so deeply engrained in the lives of women in Rajasthan whilst also, through insights into ritual, illuminating those moments when women use religion as a source of strength and courage in responding to violence. Interviews with some secular NGOs working to end violence against women in Rajasthan reveal their focus on the negative impact of patriarchal religion in sustaining male dominance, thereby sanctioning the use of violence against women. Ethnographic research looking at women-only ritual spaces reveals how positive religion can be for many women as a social and spiritual space where they work through their problems both internally and with others. A simultaneously positive and negative view of religion could help outsiders understand why violence exists whilst also supporting creative and sensitive activism working with those women most affected.

Puja as one dimension of a sensitive, relational approach to community health care provision

This article compares two projects designed to train groups of rural Rajasthani women as community health workers. Through ethnographic research conducted during the training periods of each project I highlight stark differences in the management and structural approaches. The successful project recognised the importance of rituals, specifically puja, in the daily lives of participants. Both the NGO management and the trainees performed daily rituals that helped foster a supportive network. Sensitivity combined with a wider insight into the practical realities and constraints facing women in rural Rajasthan contributed to the long-term success of the second project. The first project has folded. I argue a lack of open dialogue and real connection with participants meant the project’s management were unable to adapt /tailor the program to the needs and experiences of the women involved.

Religion and Globalisation: Bringing Anthropology and International Relations Together in the Study of Religious-Political Transnational Movements

This article considers how anthropology could stake more of a contribution to the field of religion and globalisation. Anthropology presents itself as a critique of power highlighting how it operates through globalisation to marginalise groups at the local level. Anthropologists consider religion to be a source of identify. Rituals are given importance in anthropological research as vehicles through which adherents express feelings of exclusion and make sense of the world around them. Also, it is within ritual spaces that adherents decide how to respond to or/and act in the world. Both anthropology and international relations view transnational religious-political movements as one way in which adherents resist and challenge aspects of globalisation. Combining these disciplines could provide a more comprehensive analysis into what motivates individuals to join a movement. In turn this research could provide more evidence and explanation for religions rootedness in the world. Este artículo considera cómo la antropología podría tomar una mayor contribución en el campo de la religión y la globalización. La antropología se presenta como una crítica de poder, destacando cómo opera a través de la globalización para marginar a los grupos a un nivel local. Los antropólogos consideran la religión como una fuente de identificación. En la investigación antropológica se les da importancia a los ritos como vehículos por los cuales los seguidores expresan sus sentimientos o la exclusión y les da sentido del mundo alrededor de ellos. Es también, en donde los seguidores dentro de los espacios rituales deciden cómo responder y actuar en el mundo. Tanto la antropología como las relaciones internacionales ven a los movimientos trasnacionales religiosos-políticos como una manera en la que los seguidores se resisten a los aspectos de desafío de la globalización. Una combinación de estas disciplinas podría proporcionar un análisis más exhaustivo dentro de lo que motiva a los individuos para participar en un movimiento. A su vez, esta investigación podría dar mayor evidencia y explicación sobre el arraigo de las religiones en el mundo.

VAWG mainstreaming in access to justice programmes: a framework for action

ABSTRACT If we are finally to end violence against women and girls (VAWG), then this commitment needs to be embedded into all development programmes, regardless of sectorial focus. Women and girls are vulnerable across the board and recognition of this reality is the first step. This article proposes a VAWG mainstreaming framework that addresses how to centralise a VAWG lens into development programming, irrespective of programmatic priorities. The article outlines the need for such a lens and presents the approach through a number of stages. The model is then applied to two programme areas, microfinance and HIV/AIDS, demonstrating its applicability across development issues.

Mapping the complexities and highlighting the dangers: The global drive to end FGM in the UK and Sudan

This article maps out the UK Department for International Development’s (DfID) global push to end the practice of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C). In particular, it looks at how the various components aim to link together filling evidence gaps and seeking to identify what works to finally end this brutal practice. Throughout the article, we voice a caution that if the numerous programmes emerging are not shaped by grass-roots experiences of FGM, and specifically by local change agents, there is a real danger that this opportunity will fail. In highlighting this danger, we present the viewpoint of community groups and local activists in the United Kingdom and also Sudan. We place these voices within the complex web of interventions that comprise the Free Sudan from the FGM/C programme. If not sufficiently coordinated and responsive to communities, it simply will not work. To emphasize this caution, we draw on a variety of theories that help us understand how discourses around FGM have emerged and intertwine. We also draw on theory to highlight an over reliance on a constructed image of a suffering FGM victim which makes it difficult for local activists to be heard.

A critical reading of western newspaper narratives of rape in India and their implications for feminist activism

Abstract This article is based on a review of around 100 western English print press articles recording rape in India. No cases were reported prior to the tragic and brutal rape of Nirbhaya in Delhi on the 16 December 2012. The article presents a critical analysis of the dominant discourses running through the articles and highlights the extent to which the colonial lens is still present as the main perspective through which India is viewed. The article highlights how press narratives are problematic for two main reasons. Firstly, because of the narrow reporting of only rape which suggests it occurs only to middle-class or modern urban women, the daily experiences of low-caste and Dalit women for example is ignored. Secondly, we identify the construction of a problematic-male who is labelled deviant, sexually feral and the key perpetrator of all rape violence in India. This article in no way denies the reality of violence against women in India, quite the contrary, but argues that the distorting imperialist picture emerging through the press does not support the work of feminist activists in India whose nuanced and complex understanding of the realities of violence must lead the way to eradicating it.

The contemporary dowry problematic: exploring the role of the study of religion in bridging the gap between theory and practice

This article explores the contemporary dowry problematic through a study of religions perspective. The argument made is that for religious women challenges to dowry will often be made by them from within their religious tradition. Whilst feminist scholars of religion recognize the role that it plays in shaping patriarchal practices such as dowry, ignoring the significance of religion in the lives of many women will only serve to marginalize them further from the anti-dowry campaign. This article considers what anti-dowry activists, who are mainly secular, can gain from a more sympathetic view of religion.