This thesis contributes to the understudied area of gender and inclusion in interfaith work. My research questions were: To what extent is interfaith work inclusive of women? What are the gender dynamics of interfaith work and how are these perceived, if at all? Can interfaith work be considered as violence towards women? This qualitative study draws on the narratives of 40 practitioners involved in interfaith work who participated in semi-structured interviews. Participants were Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh in equal numbers, and women and men in equal numbers. This interdisciplinary project presents new data in uniquely sharing the narratives of both women and men on the subject of gender in interfaith work. It also adds to both academic and practitioner conversations in examining the awareness of gender amongst interfaith practitioners and its impact on interfaith work. Offering a thematic analysis of the data, I explore the extent to which interfaith work is inclusive of women, finding it variable with a greater tendency towards exclusion of different kinds, and at every level. I further discuss the structural, cultural and institutional barriers acting as contributory factors in women’s exclusion, including gendered social dynamics, the influence of the various religious traditions involved in interfaith work, and the privileging of interfaith relationships between men of faith over gender justice. I examine the participants’ understandings and awareness of gender and inclusion, and their experiences of exclusion. Further consideration is given to the consequences of exclusion, and particularly the impact on women in challenging the status quo, from questioning their own worth to accepting and normalising their own exclusion. This study highlights the gendered responses of participants, revealing their often differing motivations, value perceptions, and nature of engagement in interfaith work. Whilst the theoretical framework takes a feminist approach, another lens is added as theories of violence are brought together with empirical data in offering fresh insight into interfaith work. Reflecting on Johan Galtung’s ideas of negative and positive peace and the violence triangle, it is argued that interfaith work, though often seen as a peace-building endeavour, is a violent context for women where the potential and actual diverge.
Interfaith Work: A Study on Inclusion, Gender and Violence
Vernon Yorke, S. (Author). Dec 2023
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › Doctor of Philosophy