Religion in Global Civil Society: The Role of International NGOs

Project Workshops

 

Workshops on religion and global civil society will help to develop a working relationship between international NGO leaders and the academic world. There will be three substantive workshops at Santa Barbara (one per year with approximately 30 participants at each, 15 practitioners and 15 scholars), each focusing on a particular region of the world: the Middle East and Africa; East Asia and South/Southeast Asia; and Latin America.

The NGO participants in the workshop will be chosen from a variety of international NGOs that work in these regions, including some representatives from the regions themselves. The NGOs represented will range from those that have no religious affiliation—such as Direct Relief and Human Rights Watch—to those that have a religious dimension even though their primary purpose might be to provide service regardless of faith, such as Catholic Relief Service, Church World Service, Islamic Relief, and the Buddhist and Hindu Sarvodaya movements. The issues relating to religion that these organizations confront are emblematic of those addressed by international NGOs as a whole.

Though the disciplinary specializations of the scholars will be varied—from political science and economics to philosophy and religious studies—the common thread that unites their intellectual interests is a concern about the way that cultural values play a role in providing social services and evaluating human rights. 

 

PLANNED WORKSHOPS

Networking Workshop (May 2, 2009): Bringing together representatives from other international affairs programs that provide international NGO leadership training, the goal of this meeting is to begin networking contacts and institutions in advance of the regional workshops. [more ]

 

Three regional Workshops

Middle East and Africa (2009): Substantive Workshop focusing on religion in global civil society with a regional focus.

East Asia and South/Southeast Asia (2010): Substantive Workshop focusing on religion in global civil society with a regional focus.

Latin America and Caribbean (2011): Substantive Workshop focusing on religion in global civil society with a regional focus.

 

PAST WORKSHOPS

January 2008
Luce Workshop on Religion and NGOs
On January 18-19, 2008, we will hold a one-day closed workshop on issues of religion in international affairs that relate to international NGOs, with funding support from the Henry Luce Foundation. Half of the participants will be scholars and half will be leaders in the international NGO community. The point of the workshop is to identify some of the relevant religion-specific factors surrounding issues of cultural conflict and sensitivity that confront all humanitarian organizations working abroad. A post-workshop compilation of all the materials collected and discussed at the meeting will be circulated among participants inviting them to make final revisions and comments; from this material a summary report will be circulated to participants, and be published online and in CD-ROM format as a practical guide. [more ]