Giving Religion a Place in Development Cooperation: The Perspective of Belgian NGOs

Abstract Since the early 2000s an increasing number of publications has led to the emergence of a new research field: religion and development. Much of the literature focuses on defining and classifying faith-based organizations, and attributes distinctive characteristics and comparative advantages to religious actors in contrast to their secular counterparts. In line with more empirically oriented research, this article examines how eight Belgian NGOs perceive the importance of incorporating religion in their own development practice. The NGOs’ narratives highlight a number of benefits and drawbacks related to their own religious profile and/or taking into account religious aspects of the context in which they work. While these narratives generally correspond with benefits and risks mentioned in the literature, their ground-level detail adds nuance and questions the validity of a clear-cut dichotomy between faith-based and secular NGOs, and the instrumentalizing language of comparative advantages. To achieve insight into the various, complex and specific ways in which religion is present in development, a deeply empirical, contextualized approach is needed.