Browsing by Author "Mercer, Claire"

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    The Development Activities, Values and Performance of Non-Governmental and Faith-Based Organizations in Magu and Newala Districts, Tanzania
    (2010) Green, Maia; Mercer, Claire; Mesaki, Simeon
    In Tanzania, a 'civil society sector' with roles in governance and development is a recent, largely externally-driven phenomenon superimposed on previously existing social and religious organizations. Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) are imagined to be 'close to the poor' and therefore better at implementing 'development' activities and playing a role in democratization. This study examined the position and role of religious organizations within a wider range of CSOs at the local level in two rural districts (Magu, prosperous, largely Christian and Newala, remote, poor, largely Muslim), to assess whether faith-based organizations play a significant and distinctive role in development.
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    Faith in Forms: Civil Society Evangelism and Development in Tanzania
    (Taylor and Francis, 2012) Green, Maia; Mercer, Claire; Mesaki, Simeon
    This paper examines the position and role of religious organisations within a wider range of civil society organisations (CSOs) in two districts in Tanzania. We argue that where development agendas are externally generated and civil society is driven by supply-side factors, religious organisations are not very different from other CSOs. Whether faith adherence and religious values and beliefs lead to different kinds of development outcomes is open to question, partly because most Tanzanians claim some kind of religious motivation and partly because there are probably very few institutional settings in which religious attitudes do not have some kind of influence.