Kurzbeschreibung von: Participation and Social Learning in Church-based Organizations

Developing countries are increasingly faced with the lack of alternative institutions
to counter the social processes entrenched in local settings that lead
to poverty. In this book, the author investigates the potentials of Churchbased
organizations (CBOs) as alternative mechanisms, and suggests a communitarian
approach to poverty eradication as a back up to the past and
present approaches offered by modernism and post modernism respectively.
Both the upcoming theory of Social Learning and the age-old principle of
Participation are used as a theoretical framework, with empirical data from
the diocese of Ogoja, Nigeria. The author investigates key research questions
such as: How do churches learn to build on the capacity of individuals and
groups as stakeholders that influence poverty eradication at the local level?
How do Churches as organizations learn to become social change agents?
This book enunciates a new dimension to the development discourse and the
ongoing fight against poverty and it is highly recommended for scholars of
international development in their effort to proffer a holistic solution to the
problem of poverty and its eradication.
The third approach to poverty according to the author is a communitarian
approach that examines the organizational dynamics of a diocese in relation
to the Social Justice Agenda of the Roman Catholic Church... I recommend
this book to pastors of churches, local church communities and their leaders
both in developed and developing countries who seek a sincere approach to
sustainable development.
Most Rev. Dr. John E. Ayah: Catholic Bishop of Ogoja, Nigeria.
In this book the author ascribes another perspective to poverty eradication by
focusing on social praxis, thus giving a practical dimension to the role
of religion especially for communities in developing countries. As a scientist, I
recommend this book to researchers in general, in a quest for the meaning of
development.
Derek Cabrera: PhD in Human Ecology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.