Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
2-2018
Abstract
This paper demonstrates how disasters create sites of degradation – potent spaces of upheaval and engagement – that are readily filled and exploited by evangelical Christian groups. In doing so, it explores how disasters provide opportunities for evangelical groups to gain a foothold in localities where Christian presence, and evangelical praxis, may otherwise be restricted. Drawing on qualitative data collected in Sri Lanka throughout 2010–2011, two comparative case studies are presented that reveal the strategies of evangelical Christian praxis in and through sites of environmental and political degradation. Specifically, the case studies reveal how evangelical groups pursue ‘outside‐in’ and ‘inside‐out’ strategies of salvation, which, by blurring the boundaries of religion and relief, can lead to the formation of new hierarchies of power.
Keywords
disasters, evangelical Christianity, power, sites of degradation, Sri Lanka, tsunami
Discipline
Asian Studies | Religion
Research Areas
Humanities
Publication
Asia Pacific Viewpoint
First Page
1
Last Page
13
ISSN
1360-7456
Identifier
10.1111/apv.12179
Publisher
Wiley: 24 months
Citation
WOODS, Orlando.(2018). Strategies of salvation: Evangelical Christian praxis and sites of degradation in Sri Lanka. Asia Pacific Viewpoint, , 1-13.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2465
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1111/apv.12179