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Spirituality Matters: The Role of Religion in Development Project Evaluation in the Tibetan Communities in China
Author(s) -
Luo Laura Pan,
Liu Yonggong,
Liu Yanli
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
new directions for evaluation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.374
H-Index - 40
eISSN - 1534-875X
pISSN - 1097-6736
DOI - 10.1002/ev.20328
Subject(s) - spirituality , ethnic group , indigenous , china , psychological intervention , sociology , psychology , political science , anthropology , medicine , ecology , alternative medicine , pathology , psychiatry , law , biology
The Chinese Indigenous/ethnic minority people have rich cultural traditions. Spirituality, including religion, is central to their worldviews and is manifested in their daily lives. Many development projects in China are conducted in ethnic minority areas. This paper discusses the authors’ experiences and reflections on evaluations of development interventions in the Tibetan communities. The authors propose: (1) project participants’ values, including religion and spirituality, be fully integrated into project design, implementation, and evaluation and (2) evaluators be humble to gain insight and wisdom from ethnic cultures, and conduct evaluations in a culturally responsive way.