Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Impacts of Religious Organizations on the Livelihood of Rural People in Peru

University Of Colorado At Boulder, Boulder CO

Investigators

Abstract

In many parts of the world, religious organizations provide an important set of support and services for local residents. This doctoral dissertation research project will examine the impact of religious organizations on livelihoods in predominantly Quechua communities of the central and southern Andes of Peru. The project will evaluate how religious organizations, such as churches, missionary groups, and humanitarian organizations, influence the ways that rural Peruvians have secured beneficial livelihoods in the wake of the struggle between the Peruvian state and the Shining Path revolutionary movement. The theoretical underpinnings of this project suggest that social organizations play an important role in determining how "development" will occur. Further, the outcomes of development interventions will vary according to the compositions, beliefs, and experiences embodied by different forms of social organization. Existing research has explored how state-run development agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and social movements impact the livelihoods of specific populations in distinct ways. This project seeks to contribute to these discussions by examining another influential form of organization, that of religion, and its impacts on livelihood. To do so, the project focuses on three central questions: (1) How do the religious organizations in these communities impact access to social, material and political resources? (2) How does religious affiliation shape the ways that individuals identify themselves and their neighbors, and with what consequences? (3) How do contemporary religious organizations interact with and intervene in other governing structures, such as local government or informal community groups? Data will be collected through archival research, interviews, and participant observation in two Quechua communities that were directly affected by the violence that occurred throughout the southern and central Andes through the 1980s and early 1990s. These data will be analyzed and compared through textual and narrative analysis to construct a local history of livelihood intervention by religious organizations, to determine how the most recent forms of intervention have affected local households and individuals, and to decipher the different avenues contemporary religious organizations have used to shape how individuals secure a livelihood. Comparison of the two communities, one which has seen high levels of development intervention by religious organizations and one which has not, will provide an opportunity to understand how religious-sponsored intervention differs from secular intervention. This research will address the need to conduct analytically and theoretically rigorous inquiry into the relationships between religion and livelihoods in regions that have experienced violent conflict. The centralized position of NGOs in development, combined with the rise of liberation theology throughout the 1970s, created space for a new phase of indirect and direct intervention by religious organizations in the livelihood of the world's poor. This space was extended throughout the1980s and 1990s when religious-sponsored organizations and their members often were the only groups able to intervene on behalf of humanitarian needs during violent conflict. Through increased intervention, the flow of capital between religious groups in developed and developing nations has increased as missionary activities incorporate livelihood concerns. The project is especially timely given the increasing conversion of Latin Americans from Catholic to Protestant faiths, a trend that some researchers argue alters social networks in significant and varied ways. The outcomes of this project will suggest different models for examining the role of religion in development and situations of conflict. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.