What does it mean for an organisation to be inclusive? How does
inclusivity go beyond good intention and become embedded in
sustained and authentic practice? This ambitious collection aims,
as the editors say in their introduction, to ‘transform dominant
conceptualizations of inclusion’ (p. 11) by featuring a diverse
cohort of voices from around the globe, whose perspectives are
given space to stand in their own right and on their own terms. It is
a book that seeks to explore and interrogate questions of inclusion
primarily from the organisational and strategic perspective
of Tearfund, the Christian relief, development, and advocacy
charity. Current decolonising discourse emphasises the need to
deconstruct Eurocentric approaches to academia, which often
sidelines narrative, arguing that such methods of writing are not
academically rigorous. This book centres such approaches - the 13
chapters authored mainly by Tearfund practitioners in the field -
which gives breadth and depth to the subjects being explored and
models the practice of inclusivity that it argues for throughout.
The book’s structure developed organically - the editors taking
as their lead the submissions they received. It is divided into four
sections, each focusing on a different aspect of inclusion. The first
section’s title, ‘Inclusion and Faith-based Organizations’ (FBOs),
underplays the rich exploration of issues of diversity and spirituality
within an organisation such as Tearfund. I found myself nodding
vigorously whilst reading Selina Palm’s opening chapter which took
an in depth look into Tearfund’s own theological framework for
inclusion. Here, she begins to tease out the complexities of the task
– highlighting intersections between faith engagement, patriarchy
and disability, for example, and recognising the need to move
beyond the ‘rationalised binaries’ which shape modern Western
approaches. Kurlberg’s next chapter, ‘Embrace in the Margins’,
builds on this, making the argument that inclusion must extend