INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION: DEBATING RELIGIOUS AND HUMANITARIAN APPROACHES IN NORWAY

Abstract This article aims to analyse the meaning of religious and humanitarian approaches in the field of international cooperation, setting out from a study of Norwegian cooperation with indigenous peoples. In so doing it describes and evaluates the differences between missionary and philanthropic trends in the debates on indigenous rights, their contribution to the establishment of contemporary Norwegian national values and state building, and their role as key elements in the control and administration of territories and populations. The article concludes by suggesting a number of research directions connected to the understanding of international cooperation as a space for creating a political agenda connected both to policy proposals and to the building of social movements