Religious and social literacy in contract relationships

The overarching aim is to explore the degree of “religious literacy” in public authorities and “social literacy” in faith-based organizations (FBOs) entering contract relationships on the provision of welfare services. Similarities, differences, and tensions between FBOs and public authorities with regard to how they perceive and define the role of FBOs as public social agents, will be clarified.

The aim of this preparatory pilot study is to map the national Swedish situation of existing contracts between FBOs and public authorities at municipal level, to explore the theoretical state of the art and to consolidate an international research network in order to prepare a full project application for an interdisciplinary and international comparative research project.

The project starts spring 2014
Participating researchers: Martha Middlemiss Lé Mon, Per Pettersson