MSS WHI

Doing Theology and Development

meeting the challenge of poverty

Plot

Who are the poor? Why are they poor? What can - and should - be done about it? These practical questions demand action and they challenge our sense of how the world is and how it should be. This text takes up the challenge. Against much current orthodoxy, it asserts that theology and development are vitally connected: political and religious values together forge the world-views on which policies are based. Reflecting on the Christian tradition, the authors set out four broad models of how the world works and describe the social and development policies to which these lead. The book addresses the key topical themes in development studies: power and participation, gender, the environment and violence. The analysis is grounded in stories from the author's own experience of development work in the Philippines, the UK and Bangladesh.