The Soul of Development: Biblical Christianity and Economic Transformation in Guatemala. Amy L. Sherman. NY, NY: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Objective to ascertain the socioeconomic consequences of the Evangelical Protestant revival in Guatemala.Approximately one-quarter to one-third of the population is Protestant.
Many scholars argue that poverty (economic condition) is an independent variable and religious conviction is a dependent variable (e.g., Will Durant; Marx).Other scholars assert that religious worldview actually influences economic life (e.g., Weber, Tawney) and may also influence political life (e.g., the fall of communism in Eastern Europe…people don't risk their lives for an electric toothbrush or dishwasher).
Sherman found in Guatemala that a person's religious worldview was correlated with his or her political beliefs and participation.Individuals with orthodox Christian convictions tended to be more sympathetic toward the institutions and norms of democratic capitalism than did individuals with animist or pagan beliefs.Religion is the "heart" of culture and can be an independent variable, an agent of change.Guatemalan converts' (if conversion is genuine and profound) escape from belief in gods (animism), and their embrace of belief in God (orthodox Christianity), has helped them begin to climb out of poverty.Attitudinal and behavioral changes. The minority of orthodox Catholics tend to do just as well, or better, economically, than orthodox Evangelicals…they hold similar modern attitudes on important variables related to development (e.g., merit, equality, fate, innovation, personal responsibility, self-discipline, cooperativeness, political participation and education).Cristo-pagans unsympathetic to merit-based economy and unenthusiastic about the free market…have a "zero-sum" mentality…hostile to profit-making, individual initiative, and competition.
Cultural attitudes and values are correlated with development prospects.This includes the Confucianist worldview in East Asia.The free market functions best when it is embedded in a supportive moral-cultural order that encourages both personal initiative and creativity and self-restraint.
Visited 15 villages extensively.Conducted formal interviews with 1,000 Guatemalans from five different villages.In depth informal interviews with 100 Guatemalans during six site visits of one month each.
Chapter One – Compares cultural relativism (all actions are appropriate and positive) to Weber (an immutable code of ethics, absolute standards of right and wrong, consistent conception of justice in which good is rewarded and evil punished), Myrdal, Schumpeter and the Austrian economists, McClelland and Fillol (the forces spurring economic development rest largely within man), P.T. Bauer (anti-dependency theory, anti-foreign aid), Thomas Sowell, Lawrence Harrison (Who Prospers?).Authoritarianism stifles initiative, innovation and risk-taking, and facilitates corruption and the politicalization of the economy.
"When people believe they have stewardship over nature and society inculcates the value of initiative and achievement, behaviors such as working hard, taking risks, accepting new challenges, changing traditions, pursuing education, and planning for the future emerge.." as do institutions and policies that encourage entrepreneurship (e.g., private property rights, patent system, legal structures for addressing breach of contract, credit).
Chapter Two -Review of development literature on: 1) Why have so many Latin Americans converted to Protestant Christianity?And2) So what?Internal reasons for conversion include the search for answers to the questions, trials and longings of individual lives, the suffering caused by alcoholism, and dissatisfaction with the Catholic church.External reasons include improving one's social status and opportunities for social advancement."So what?" includes the adoption of the protestant work ethic, joining a vibrant community of accountability, curtailing alcohol consumption, more household income directed to raising the standard of living for women and children, strengthening marital bonds, propensity to develop nonfarm employment, increased interaction with outsiders (contacts regarding educational, job or marketing opportunities).
Chapter Three -Description of Cristo-Paganism and its many negative influences on economic development, especially the zero-sum or finite universe mindset (one person can only advance economically at another's expense).
Chapter Four -Discussion of the major findings of the 1,000 person Worldview and Development survey."Results indicate that orthodox Evangelicals consistently outperform adherents of other religious worldviews in various objective measurements of development.They are also more likely than other people to embrace certain development-enhancing attitudes (e.g., openness to change, rejection of fatalism, innovation, importance of education, merit)."
Chapter Five – Reinforcing anecdotes from outback visits (e.g., Almolonga! Willingness to use fertilizer and new agricultural technology).
Chapter Six - Absolute standards of right and wrong make a case for inalienable human rights.Transcendence takes away the foundation for totalitarianism.Churches can be a mediating social and political structure.Evangelicals are anti-Marxist and advocate rule of law.
Chapter Seven -Protestanism is individualistic and does undermine traditional community.Facilitates greater openness to inclusiveness, esp. for women, and removal of cultural constraints to self-improvement, innovation, and ambition.
Conclusion -"..joining an Evangelical church leads first to behavior modifications, and then, for true converts who adopt a biblical worldview, to attitudinal transformation as well…frees believers from alcohol addiction and encourages careful, disciplined investments in family well-being (e.g., housing improvements and children's education)."Argues that a country's prospects for development are a function primarily of factors internal to the country and one must take cultural change seriously.