Nina van der Puije

Humboldt University of Berlin

1 – Partnership in Development Cooperation & 3 – Partnership in Knowledge Production

Decolonizing Evaluation Practice in the Development Sector: Toward the Recognition of African Religious ‘Development Alternatives’.

The “development” practices of OECD countries have traditionally pursued “development” goals guided by “modern” social, technical, and economic ideals. These ideals stem from values and norms rooted in “Western” industrialized nations. In the face of persistent poverty, refugee flows, conflicts over redistribution, and ecological constraints—despite six decades of “development” cooperation—established “development” approaches are increasingly being called into question. To date, the established “development cooperation” sector has rarely identified “non-modern” approaches to “development,” much less recognized their contribution to building a better society. This is particularly true of religious and spiritual approaches to sustainable transformation, despite their prominent role in the lives of many people in the “South.” Using the case study of “development” approaches by African initiative churches, this study seeks to highlight the necessary reforms in the practice of “development” evaluation in order to recognize the potential of “non-Western,” context-specific (religious) knowledge for sustainable transformation.

• 2022–present: Ph.D. candidate at the Interdisciplinary IRTG, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany
• 2017–2022: PhD candidate at the Institute for Development Policy and Postcolonial Studies, University of Kassel, Germany
• 2010: Master’s degree in Comparative Religious Studies and Ethnology from Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany

• 2022–present: Research Associate – Interdisciplinary IRTG “Transformative Religion,” Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany
• 2018–present: Associate Researcher – Research Program “Religious Communities and Sustainable Development,” Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany
• 2011–present: Consultant and evaluation officer for various development cooperation organizations (GIZ, Bread for the World, Misereor, among others)

• Recognizing Development Alternatives and Local Knowledge: The Key to Revitalizing Global Partnerships (SDG 17)? Reflections on Development Cooperation Reform. Paper presented at the EXCEED/DIE Conference on Rethinking Development Cooperation – Bonn, September 2018
• African-Initiated Churches as Advocates for Development Alternatives? Religion and Development from a Post-Development Perspective. Paper presented at the Research Programme Workshop on Religious Communities and Sustainable Development – Berlin, June 2018
• Strehl, Meike, Nina van der Puije, Aram Ziai. 2020. What Do Equitable South-North Relations Mean in Practice? In: Welthaus Bielefeld 21, 2-3.