Gender, Faith and Development

Faith-based organizations have long been involved in charitable and development activities. However, the emerging openness to thinking about and engaging with religion in development raises some important questions. Does religious engagement in development policy and practice risk harming already fragile gender relations? What are the challenges and opportunities in negotiating the relationships between religion, gender, and development? Gender, Faith, and Development explores in different ways the relationships between religion, gender, and development. Subjects covered include attitudes towards sexual behaviour in areas with a high prevalence of HIV and AIDS; household disputes over the control of income; constraints on women’s time; the difficulties of introducing Western models of gender equity to those in Muslim societies who see feminism as a threat; and changes in abortion legislation. This book is essential reading for academics and researchers in development, gender, political science, sociology, or religious studies, and of interest to development policy makers and practitioners, voluntary sector workers, and social movement activists.

Dr. Emma Tomalin is Senior Lecturer in the Department ofTheology and Religious Studies, University of Leeds, UK.