ABSTRACT
I NOW TURN FROM THE TRANSNATIONAL (CHAPTER 3) AND THE NATIONAL (Chapter 4) aspects of development to more local engagements of NGOs with rural, Zimbabwean beneficiaries. In addition to the religiouslyinspired discourses of political transcendence (the “Kingdom of God” and “free markets”) described in the preceding chapter, World Vision and Christian Care employ a discourse of participation, which, in the eyes of NGO workers, is considered particularly Christian. It sacralizes the idea of “community” and transforms development into a religious act. Analytically, the discourse of participation contains a specific conceptual and moral grammar that is comprised of seven key concepts: community, participation, unity, divine intervention, potential, empowerment, and responsibility. Critical to understanding this grammar of Christian development is that alongside the construct of a sacred community is the Protestant discourse of individualism that speaks to a Godgiven potential for change.
