1st Edition
Institutional Logics within Faith-Based Aid A New Approach to Organising in Development, Humanitarianism and Advocacy
This book investigates what faith means in the actual day-to-day practice of faith-based NGOs working in the development, humanitarian, and advocacy sectors.
Faith-based organisations play an extremely prominent role in international aid and development, operating within the same sphere as organisations without an explicit religious affiliation. This book uses the case study of a UK-based Christian faith-based organisation to develop an analytic tool using institutional logics. Through exploration of how various institutional logics are manifested and negotiated across organisational practice, the book describes how the ‘telos,’ or objective, of the corporate logic (to sustain the organisation) interacts with the telos of the religious logic (namely, to worship God). The book demonstrates that since organisational practices must ultimately work to sustain the organisation, at the organisational level faith is restricted to certain spaces and forms, while at the individual level faith is dominant and active.
Bringing a fresh perspective to discussions of religion and development by highlighting how faith influences development at the organisational level, this book will be an important read for researchers working on global development.
Introduction
Faith-Based Organisations (FBOs)
FBOs within religions and development
Understanding and researching FBOs
Roadmap to the institutional logics perspective
A critique of the existing frameworks
The institutional logics perspective
Overview of the book
Structure
Defining key terms
1 The institutional logics perspective in research
Theoretical framework
The institutional logics perspective
Theoretical contribution of the book
The significance of the field
The field and the institutional logics perspective
The field and FBOs
Empirical research
Developing a field-level typology of logics
Methods of data collection
Conclusion
2 Institutional logics within the practice of aid
The historical roots of the practice of aid
The emergence of development
The emergence of humanitarianism
The emergence of ‘long-distance advocacy’
The practice of aid post-WWII
The post-WWII period
The establishment of the sector
The increasing professionalisation of aid
The influence of the logics of corporation and market on organisational practice
Key aspects of logics evidenced within the practice of aid post-WWII
Conclusion
3 Institutional logics within the field
Constructing a field-level typology of logics
Identifying a suitable subcomponent of the field
The process
The typology of logics
The logics
The categories
Conclusion
4 Institutional logics within a UK-Based FBO
Data collection and processing
Data collection
Method for processing the data
Data analysis
Logics at the organisational level according to the typology
Conclusion
5 Christian organising through the lens of institutional logics
What institutional logics are in force and how are they manifested within the organisation?
The logic of long-term sustainability
The logic of impact
The logic of participation and consensus-building
The logic of pastoral care and support
How do individual actors negotiate these logics on a daily basis?
What role does the logic of religion play, and how does it interact with other institutional logics?
What does the faith orientation of FBOs mean in practice?
What questions is the FBO asking in this regard?
How does faith actually influence organisational practice?
Conclusion
Conclusion
Summary of argument
Contribution of book
Contribution to the study of FBOs in religions and development
Contribution to the institutional logics perspective
What next?
Biography
Nina G. Kurlberg is Postdoctoral Research Associate at Durham University. In her PhD (University of Edinburgh, 2023), she used the lens of institutional logics to explore what the faith orientation of faith-based organisations means in actual practice. Nina has worked within the international development sector for nearly a decade, both in the UK and Sri Lanka. Most recently, she worked for Tearfund – a Christian relief, development, and advocacy organisation – developing theology in the area of diversity and inclusion (D&I). Nina is co-editor of Theologies and Practices of Inclusion and Disability Inclusion in Africa.
“In this impressive book Nina Kurlberg offers us a new lens for examining the operations of large faith-based organisations that takes seriously what their faith orientation means in actual practice. This suggests a new approach in the study of religion and development, of interest to scholars, development actors and faith-based organisations themselves.”
Emma Tomalin, Professor of Religion and Public Life, University of Leeds
“A valuable analysis of faith-based organisations that takes seriously the complex space between individual and collective identities. Nina Kurlberg carefully explores how religion is embedded in the institutional logics that frame aid and development work across the world today.”
Mathew Guest, Professor in the Sociology of Religion, Durham University
“Nina Kurlberg's book is a must-read for those interested in faith-based organisations (FBOs), offering a compelling and nuanced examination of their practice. By introducing a new perspective and developing an analytical tool based on it, Kurlberg provides a valuable framework for future studies in this field.”
Gry Espedal, Theologian and Associate Professor at VID specialized University, Oslo, Norway
