Religious Neoliberalism “On the Ground”: Nonprofit Authorities’ Views on Religiosity, Devolution, and Remoralization in Poverty Relief

Abstract

Post-welfare reform public/private partnerships are marked by the rise of the ideology and practice of “religious neoliberalism,” which include a commitment to devolution and remoralization. To understand the impact of religious neoliberalism, scholars must move beyond the elite level to examine the local. We elicited thirty-two interviews with authorities at antipoverty nonprofit organizations and found that ideals associated with religious neoliberalism have seeped into the functioning of many charitable organizations, regardless of their relationship to religiosity. There are a range of organizational beliefs, attitudes, and practices “on the ground,” but ultimately religious neoliberalism is a prominent framework for United States-based charity.

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Notes on contributors

Danielle Docka-Filipek

Danielle Docka-Filipek is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Christopher Newport University. She holds a doctorate in sociology and a graduate certificate in Advanced Feminist Studies from the University of Minnesota. Her research projects include examining the connections between normative family ideals and gendered organizational regimes in government-religious social service partnerships (“faith-based initiatives”); vulnerability and disclosure as a pedagogical tactic; gender and family stratification in the American ‘marriage movement;’ racial discourses and attitudes towards ‘diversity’ among U.S. college students and faculty; and moral boundaries, race, and class in U.S. neighborhood organizations.

Andria Timmer

Andria Timmer is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Christopher Newport University. She holds a doctorate in Anthropology and a Masters in Public Health from the University of Iowa. She is an applied cultural anthropologist with research specializations in political and legal anthropology. Broadly her research concerns how individuals and groups identify problems and enact social change, with specific focus on the actions and activities of civil sector or nongovernmental organizations. She has studied humanitarian efforts to alleviate childhood malnutrition in Nicaragua and to desegregate the educational system for the Roma in Hungary as well as efforts on the part of mothers in Virginia to alter food pathways. Her current research explores the humanitarian response to the “refugee crisis” in Hungary.