‘God’s Story’ as ideological determinant in faith-based cosmopolitanism

In his 2017 book, David Hollinger argues that, historically, Protestant American missionaries acted like ‘boomerangs’ with the intent of changing their targeted populations through evangelism. In actuality, their work had a greater effect on the population from which they departed. This boomerang ef...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Authors: Willey, Robin (Author) ; Kaler, Amy 1966- (Author) ; Parkins, John 1967- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Carfax Publ. 2024
In: Journal of contemporary religion
Year: 2024, Volume: 39, Issue: 1, Pages: 107–128
Further subjects:B Cosmopolitanism
B Missionaries
B Humanitarianism
B faith-based organizations
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:In his 2017 book, David Hollinger argues that, historically, Protestant American missionaries acted like ‘boomerangs’ with the intent of changing their targeted populations through evangelism. In actuality, their work had a greater effect on the population from which they departed. This boomerang effect is the consequence of an alteration of values arising from mission work abroad that made missionaries more critical of racism, colonialism, and religious inflexibility, resulting in ‘missionary cosmopolitanism’. We argue that this process has not stopped. Many Christian faith-based humanitarian and development workers continue to be ‘cosmopolitanized’ through their fieldwork. Our data consist of interviews with over 60 self-identified Christian humanitarians, conducted in locations across Canada, the United States, South Sudan, and Kenya. Using these data and theories of cosmopolitanism, especially the work of German sociologist Ulrich Beck, we explore the central components and conceptualize the limits of contemporary faith-based cosmopolitanism.
ISSN:1469-9419
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of contemporary religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/13537903.2023.2284539