This book investigates what faith means in the actual day-to-day practice of faith-based NGOs working in the development, humanitarian, and advocacy sectors. Faith-based organisations play an extremely prominent role in international aid and development, operating within the same sphere as organisations without an explicit religious affiliation. This book uses the case study of a UK-based Christian faith-based organisation to develop an analytic tool using institutional logics. Through exploration of how various institutional logics are manifested and negotiated across organisational practice, the book describes how the ‘telos,’ or objective, of the corporate logic (to sustain the organisation) interacts with the telos of the religious logic (namely, to worship God). The book demonstrates that since organisational practices must ultimately work to sustain the organisation, at the organisational level faith is restricted to certain spaces and forms, while at the individual level faith is dominant and active. Bringing a fresh perspective to discussions of religion and development by highlighting how faith influences development at the organisational level, this book will be an important read for researchers working on global development.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Faith-Based Organisations (FBOs) FBOs within religions and development Understanding and researching FBOs Roadmap to the institutional logics perspective A critique of the existing frameworks The institutional logics perspective Overview of the book Structure Defining key terms 1 The institutional logics perspective in research Theoretical framework The institutional logics perspective Theoretical contribution of the book The significance of the field The field and the institutional logics perspective The field and FBOs Empirical research Developing a field-level typology of logics Methods of data collection Conclusion 2 Institutional logics within the practice of aid The historical roots of the practice of aid The emergence of development The emergence of humanitarianism The emergence of ‘long-distance advocacy’ The practice of aid post-WWII The post-WWII period The establishment of the sector The increasing professionalisation of aid The influence of the logics of corporation and market on organisational practice Key aspects of logics evidenced within the practice of aid post-WWII Conclusion 3 Institutional logics within the field Constructing a field-level typology of logics Identifying a suitable subcomponent of the field The process The typology of logics The logics The categories Conclusion 4 Institutional logics within a UK-Based FBO Data collection and processing Data collection Method for processing the data Data analysis Logics at the organisational level according to the typology Conclusion 5 Christian organising through the lens of institutional logics What institutional logics are in force and how are they manifested within the organisation? The logic of long-term sustainability The logic of impact The logic of participation and consensus-building The logic of pastoral care and support How do individual actors negotiate these logics on a daily basis? What role does the logic of religion play, and how does it interact with other institutional logics? What does the faith orientation of FBOs mean in practice? What questions is the FBO asking in this regard? How does faith actually influence organisational practice? Conclusion Conclusion Summary of argument Contribution of book Contribution to the study of FBOs in religions and development Contribution to the institutional logics perspective What next?