Knowing better, doing better? International development NGOs, faith and wellbeing
Creators: name: Adams, Mark
Publisher: name: The University of Edinburgh
Year: 2023
Subjects: wellbeing
human development
public policy goals
international development NGO sector
Christian-rooted NGOs
case studies
faith-based organisations

description: Wellbeing, and particularly subjective wellbeing or happiness, has come to the fore in international development rhetoric since 2000. Making the promotion of human wellbeing the principal goal of public policy and using self-reported wellbeing as a key indicator of performance has proven hugely popular. It promises better information and practice; greater voice, agency and shifting power in aid projects, and space for secular and faith-based conceptions of human development that challenge dominant emphases on economic growth and metrics (“beyond GDP”). Together these offer better outcomes for those at the sharp end of interventions. Reviewing the UK international development NGO sector as a whole, and in a number of in-depth case studies it is clear that wellbeing has entered the rhetoric of development and that NGOs have embraced wellbeing as an aim. Some NGOs have gone further, seeking to articulate visions of human wellbeing and integrate these into their policy and practice. Some UK Christian-rooted NGOs have seen in the developing debate on wellbeing a vision of human development very similar to their own and an opportunity to advance their views of a person-centred, holistic, and social vision of human wellbeing, one situated in a long-term relationship with people and the planet. There is an emerging consensus that human wellbeing should be the aim of international development, and that wellbeing should be considered from both objective and subjective standpoints, as well as situating the individual within relationships, culture and moral frameworks, including faith. Wellbeing carries a heavy burden, with its promises of better information and practice, increasing voice and agency, shifting power, and in some cases aligning with alternative agendas to dominant development paradigms. The thesis combines an overview of the UK NGO sector with a number of in-depth case studies of organisations drawn from across the faith-based spectrum, and additional information on other organisations that have deliberately engaged with wellbeing, from faith-permeated to secular. It explores if the rhetoric of wellbeing is reflected in the practice. In doing so the research explores how secular and faith-based organisations engage with wellbeing, and how Christian-rooted organisations have used wellbeing both to distinguish Christian visions of development and build bridges with secular and other faith-based actors that share similar visions of human development and wellbeing. The use of a spectrum of religiosity rather than a binary view of faith-based versus secular organisations has illustrated differences between these Christian-rooted organisations and supports the argument that such binary distinctions have limited analytical use. These organisations have demonstrated that the promise of improved information can be achieved with investment, but that strengthening voice, agency and shifting power requires stronger political will and leadership. They highlight the temptations and pressures to adopt a top-down approach, to elaborate in detail universal frameworks, and failing to root these in the priorities the realities and priorities of the local contexts. In their efforts to explicitly include faith and religion the organisations have illustrated some of the challenges in doing so, and the need to explore again the issues of public and private spaces and what a positive vision of secularism can offer to the wellbeing of all. This research contributes to the literature on wellbeing and international development by exploring the role that religion and faith plays in conceptualizing and assessing wellbeing, and how Christian-rooted organisations are using concepts of wellbeing to explore and advance their notions of human development. It contributes to the discussion of distinctions between faith-based and secular organisations. It highlights two challenges of giving explicit expression to faith and religion in wellbeing frameworks – the risk of taking an overly normative approach, and of doing so in mixed-faith spaces and with communities that may have quite different conceptions of wellbeing. The challenge of using universal frameworks in ways that reflect and respect local priorities and understandings is central to how wellbeing is used in international development. In addition, the focus on faith and religion has highlighted the need for a more critical analysis of secularism and its potential in navigating these tensions. Wellbeing has entered the rhetoric of development, but practice is yet to fully realise the promises of wellbeing. This research explores that discrepancy, and suggests some avenues for further research, including the need to explore these issues in relation to non-Christian faith traditions.