How far do religious beliefs affect people’s views of each other?
Social scientists at the University of Bath have been awarded £63,000 to study Pentecostal movements in Malaysia to see how far religious doctrines influence people’s perceptions of other groups in developing countries.
Dr Graham Brown, Senior Lecturer in the International Development Group of the Department of Social & Policy Sciences, will be working on the project along with research officer Regina Lim.
The study is supported by a grant from the University of Southern California’s Center for Religion & Civic Culture and the John Templeton Foundation
It will examine how adherents of different religious denominations in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur understand the notion of ‘good citizenship’ and how they perceive and interact with members of other religious and ethnic communities.
Dr Brown said: “There’s an increasing realisation among academics and developmental theorists that religion is an untapped potential resource for promoting broad human development.
“Religion is also a source of social strife and violent conflict which in turn can undermine development.
“We need to look at what context religion plays and whether civil society can be an affective barrier to ethnic conflict?”
Dr Brown will set up the project in Kuala Lumpur in May. Ms Lim will spend a year in Kuala Lumpur carrying out interviews and surveys. She will then return to the UK where the research team will write up their findings.