Religion and Poverty: Monotheistic Responses Around the Globe

This book offers a timely and compelling look at religion and poverty, focusing primarily on the two largest world religions, Christianity and Islam, and considering religion and poverty in the United States and international contexts.

Written by social scientists, the book incorporates relevant theology with a focus on how theology is lived in relation to issues of poverty. Topics include religion as it relates to social service provision, lived religion, philanthropy, faith-based social movements, public policy, and more. This volume synthesizes existing research on religion and poverty and includes new original research.

It is an essential resource for upper-level undergraduate or graduate courses focused on religion and poverty and is also an outstanding supplementary text for broader courses in religion, poverty, social welfare, philanthropy, and non-profit organizations.

Susan Crawford Sullivan is Professor of Sociology at the College of the Holy Cross, U.S.A. She is the author of Living Faith: Everyday Religion and Mothers in Poverty (2011) and the co-editor of A Vision for Justice: Engaging Catholic Social Teaching on the College Campus (2014).

Stephen Offutt is Associate Professor of Development Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary, U.S.A. He is the author of Blood Entanglements: Evangelicals and Gangs in El Salvador (2023) and New Centers of Global Evangelicalism in Latin America and Africa (2015).

Shariq Ahmed Siddiqui is Assistant Professor of Philanthropic Studies and Director of the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, U.S.A; co-editor in chief of the Journal on Muslim Philanthropy and Civil Society; and co-editor of Philanthropy in the Muslim World (2023).