Beholden: Religion, Global Health, and Human Rights

by Susan R. Holman

Overview

Winner of the 2016 Grawemeyer Award in Religion

Global health efforts today are usually shaped by two very different ideological approaches: a human rights-based approach to health and equity-often associated with public health, medicine, or economic development activities; or a religious or humanitarian "aid" approach motivated by personal beliefs about charity, philanthropy, missional dynamics, and humanitarian "mercy." The underlying differences between these two approaches can create tensions and even outright hostility that undermines the best intentions of those involved.

In Beholden: Religion, Global Health, and Human Rights, Susan R. Holman—a scholar in both religion and the history of medicine—challenges this traditional polarization by telling stories designed to help shape a new perspective on global health, one that involves a multidisciplinary integration of religion and culture with human rights and social justice. The book's six chapters range broadly, describing pilgrimage texts in the Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, and Islamic traditions; the effect of ministry and public policy on nineteenth-century health care for the poor; the story of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as it shaped economic, social, and cultural rights; a "religious health assets" approach based in Southern Africa; and the complex dynamics of gift exchange in the modern faith-based focus on charity, community, and the common good. Holman's study serves as an insightful guide for students and practitioners interested in improving and broadening the scope of global health initiatives, with an eye towards having the greatest impact possible.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199827763
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	02/25/2015
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Susan R. Holman is Senior Writer at the Global Health Education and Learning Incubator at Harvard University. Formerly writer and editor at Harvard School of Public Health, she has also worked in clinical nutrition and holds a PhD in religious studies from Brown. She is the author of The Hungry Are Dying: Beggars and Bishops in Roman Cappadocia and God Knows There's Need: Christian Responses to Poverty.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: Toward a vision of the ought
2. Religious pilgrimage: From 'glocality' to global health
3. Private lens, public health: A reluctant physician in 19th century America
4. From Matthew 25 to Article 25: Why economic, social, and cultural (ESC) rights matter
5. Between Cape Town and Memphis: Religious health assets
6. Don't teach me to fish: What's wrong with gift-charity?

Acknowledgements
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

"Beholden is an interdisciplinary text that respects the complexity of religious traditions and the goals of public policy. As such, the text is suitable for courses in public health, bioethics, religious ethics, and seminary and medical school curricula."—Religious Studies Review

"Susan Holden's work intersects the fields of religion and health [Holman's] short collection of essays and narratives explore the positive and negative relations of the two as regards assistance provided by the rich to the poor The stories invite consideration of conflicting ethics and ideals usually inherent in such efforts, particularly those of faith-based organizations."—Journal of Religion and Health

"Susan R. Holman...provides valuable narrative, analysis, and information that can...open the eyes of religious leaders about helpful, sustainable, and respectful ways to approach health-related needs throughout the world."—Sojourners

"Beholden is a rich tapestry of stories deftly woven into a textured examination of religious faith and global health work. The meanings we give to charity, justice, human rights, obligations, and respect—and their material effects—come alive in threads plaited across time and place. Beholden invites us to deepen the moral integrity of global health relations; it should be read by all who care to do so." —Charlene A. Galarneau, Assistant Professor, Women's and Gender Studies Department, Wellesley College

"Susan Holman gives us what we need so urgently—a recovery of the relationship between public health and public faith, between the local and the global. Beholden is a work for our time, filled with rich and experiential insights for the flourishing and healing of our world." —Mark R. Gornik, Director, City Seminary of New York

"Susan Holman weaves theology, history, ethics, and her own fascinating pilgrimage as a public health specialist and scholar of religion to produce a book that is a swirling, sumptuous tapestry. Not only a feast of vivid prose, Beholden is an unmatched account of why the often separate worlds of religion, health, and human rights need each other—urgently—at a time of desperate crises and grave inequities in global public health." —Timothy Samuel Shah, Associate Director of the Religious Freedom Project, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University

"This slim volume has chapter notes, bibliography and index as befits its scholarly origin. Those in the world of faith-based NGOs with health components will find this book of interest."—Journal of Religion & Health

"The major strength of this book is that it approaches a topic that is often untouched in global health care efforts: the interplay of religion with global health issues. Holman's work is important for academics serious about religious dialogue in global health. The book could be a useful text for graduate students keen to learn more about the roles of religion and human rights in the global health context. Even for the non-specialist, Beholden is within reach and may well be of interest. It would be beneficial reading for both religious and non-religious groups in order to engage one another in meaningful dialogue toward the goal of integrated multidisciplinary efforts for global health." —Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved

From the Publisher