NAB XVIII 2019

Weingartener Afrikagespräche
2019: On the role of religion in
development cooperation
Eva Spies gave the introductory lecture on “Religion
and Development: History, stakeholders, interests”.
Text EVA SPIES AND SEBASTIAN MÜLLER
Photo ALINE STEGER
As a cooperation of the Akademie
Weingarten in the diocese
of Rottenburg-Stuttgart
and the IAS, the Weingartener
Afrikagespräche is an interdisciplinary
congress that is held annually in
December.
Th e Akademie Weingarten in the diocese
of Rottenburg-Stuttgart and the Institute
of African Studies (IAS) organise
the annual Weingartener Afrikagespräche
or Africa Talks in Weingarten. In 2019,
the symposium was convened by Heike
Wagner of the Akademie Weingarten
with Franz Kogelmann (Dept. of Islamic
Studies), Sebastian Müller (PhD student
in Development Sociology) and Eva
Spies (professor for the study of religion
with a special focus on Africa at the University
of Bayreuth). From 6 to 8 December
2019, representatives of academia,
development organisations, and politics
discussed the provocative question of
whether religious actors are more successful
at supporting sustainable development
than secular organisations.
Since 2014, the German Ministry for
Economic Cooperation and Development
(BMZ) has promoted value-based
development co-operation and a development
strategy that emphasises the
involvement of religious actors. Against
this background, the organisers of the
conference invited representatives of
BMZ, GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Internationale Zusammenarbeit), and
several religiously affiliated development
organisations such as Humanity First,
Islamic Relief, Horizont 3000, and Brot
für die Welt, as well as politicians, the
spokesperson of the German Humanist
Association, and scholars of religion to
share their views and experiences of this
strategy.
Th e speakers and the audience, including
students from Bayreuth, development
practitioners, and interested citizens,
had a lively and controversial discussion
about the concept of religious actors and
values, their specific contribution to development,
as well as the fi nancial support
of religious organisations.
Th e presentations and discussions of the
conference will be published in the series
Bayreuther Studien zu Politik und Gesellschaft
in Afrika by Nomos. Th e theme
of the 2020 conference (4 to 6 December
2020) will be: “Umweltwandel in Afrika /
Environmental change in Africa”.
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