Religion and Gender: Emancipatory Tools for Development in Zambia

Abstract

Religion and Christianity in particular has a history of
integrating its mission of evangelisation to addressing
social concerns and contributing to development.
Using case study, the current article discusses religion
and gender as emancipatory tools for development in
Zambia, with specific reference to Lusaka District.
As posited by Jun (2008) researchers and participants
are purposive beings who have experiences and can
interpret the meaning of existence and relationships
in a social world. With this philosophy, the article
uses qualitative methods to gain deeper insight into
the experiences of adherents to four churches namely,
Seventh Day Adventist, Catholic, Evangelical Church
of Zambia, and Pentecostal Holiness Churches in
Lusaka District. The sample comprised four religious
leaders, 16 adherents of the churches and five officials
from women activist organisations. There was a total
of 25 participants. All the participants were selected
purposively by virtue of their position and belonging
to a church or women’s organisation. The objectives
were to establish perceptions of Christians towards religion, gender and development; to examine the role
played by the church in gender and development and to
ascertain women involvement in the church. The main
finding was that no meaningful development could
be realized without including women as they were
important individuals in society. Churches should,
therefore, delegate decision-making responsibilities
not only to men but also women.