Global Institutions of Religion

The institutional picture is complex and dynamic, this book will review the institutional context for contemporary religion, focusing on its transnational implications. This is indeed a rich topic, but it has not been treated in anything like a systematic fashion. A remarkable array of institutions are involved, many with extensive transnational structures. They take many forms, some specific to individual faiths (with Catholic institutions a complex in themselves but the most highly developed), denominations, or faiths, some with specific substantive purposes (Habitat for Humanity, Islamic Relief, for example), while others aim to promote peace and social justice through interfaith action. The United Nations and other institutions, the European Union, the World Economic Forum, and the World Bank, for example, have grappled with how to relate to both institutions and issues involving religion. However, serious gaps in knowledge and understanding have hindered efforts to navigate these institutions and this has played significant roles in tensions and failures to take advantage of opportunities for partnership, for example in achieving the Millennium Development goals. The new forms that religious institutions are taking, their fit with human rights and democratic ideals, their changing nature in plural societies, are a highly relevant part of the global institutional picture, and this volume aims to provide an accessible and rich introduction to them.