Description:
EPDF and EPUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.
Examining countries where religious pluralism is in decline, including Iraq, India, Pakistan and Nigeria, this book brings together reflections, knowledge and learning about the daily experiences of religiously marginalized groups, generated using participatory research methods. It also showcases the participatory methodologies implemented by its international team of contributors and highlights the importance of using non-extractive methods for engaging with participants.
Including a careful consideration of the ethics and limitations of participatory research with marginalized groups, the book reflects on the implications for people's agency when research creates space for them to reflect on their realities in a group setting and uses methods which put their own experience and analysis at the centre of the process.
Brief description: Jo Howard is Research Fellow, and leader of the Participation, Inclusion and Social Change research cluster, at the Institute of Development Studies.
Review Quotes:
"Takes readers on a challenging journey, exploring diverse cases of freedom of religion and belief and challenging our preconceptions about the secularism embedded within development studies. This is a sensible, honest and provocative book, and a must-read for academics and practitioners ready to continue questioning obscured and uncritical areas of our thinking and praxis (theoretically, methodologically and personally!)." Carmen Martinez Vargas, University of the Free State
"These case studies use a range of participatory methods to shed light on experiences of religious discrimination. They show how religious discrimination intersects with other dimensions of disadvantage. It has often been a blind spot in studies of deprivation but looking for it and checking for freedom of religion and belief must now be firmly on relevant research agendas. This should deepen our understandings and inform and inspire others to conduct similar studies in other contexts." Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex