A Study in Truth-Telling and Transformative Inclusion: Cultivating a ‘Culture of Encounter’ in Development Organisations

In this article, Bray brings the lived experiences of practitioners involved in anti-racism work in the international development sector into dialogue with Catholic social teaching and liberation theologies to develop a theological narrative around anti-racism work in the sector. Bray considers how the theological theme of the culture of encounter can be used as a conceptual lens to interpret the praxis of practitioners engaged in anti-racism work within Catholic Development Organisations. The article explores how the lived experiences of these practitioners can enrich our understanding of what attitudes, structures and habits obstruct the cultivation of a culture of encounter within Christian organisations. Themes such as the option for ‘the poor’ are being creatively reimagined and articulated by these practitioners through their work addressing inequitable power dynamics in the sector. The article analyses how the theology operational within the praxis and organising of these practitioners can help to constructively develop Catholic social thought and practice around anti-racism in the sector.