The Relationship between Values, Religious Teaching and Development Concepts and Practices: A Preliminary Literature Review.

Abstract

Religious are based on values and beliefs that are transmitted through formal and informal teaching and socialization processes and comprehensively shape people's lives, including their development ideas and practices. This paper reviews the relevant literature in preparation for research into the ways in which the universal beliefs or basic principles of religion tend to be adapted, compromised and challenged in local contexts, with implications for people's conceptions of 'development' and their everyday practices. The paper reviews the teachings of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and African traditional religion as they pertain to key development concepts and issues such as poverty, debt and credit, education and gender.

Citation

Working Paper No. 33, Religions and Development Research Programme, University of Birmingham, UK, 60 pp. ISBN 0-7044-27702

The Relationship between Values, Religious Teaching and Development Concepts and Practices: A Preliminary Literature Review.

Published 1 January 2009