Religions and Development Research Programme Religions, Ethics and Attitudes towards Corruption: A Study of Perspectives in India Vinod Pavarala and Kanchan K. Malik University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, AP Working Paper 53- 2010 Religions and Development Research Programme The Religions and Development Research Programme Consortium is an international research partnership that is exploring the relationships between several major world religions, development in low-income countries and poverty reduction. The programme is comprised of a series of comparative research projects that are addressing the following questions: How do religious values and beliefs drive the actions and interactions of individuals and faith-based organisations? How do religious values and beliefs and religious organisations influence the relationships between states and societies? In what ways do faith communities interact with development actors and what are the outcomes with respect to the achievement of development goals? The research aims to provide knowledge and tools to enable dialogue between development partners and contribute to the achievement of development goals. We believe that our role as researchers is not to make judgements about the truth or desirability of particular values or beliefs, nor is it to urge a greater or lesser role for religion in achieving development objectives. Instead, our aim is to produce systematic and reliable knowledge and better understanding of the social world. The research focuses on four countries (India, Pakistan, Nigeria and Tanzania), enabling the research team to study most of the major world religions: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and African traditional belief systems. The research projects will compare two or more of the focus countries, regions within the countries, different religious traditions and selected development activities and policies. The consortium consists of six research partner organisations, each of which is working with other researchers in the four focus countries: University of Birmingham, UK: International Development Department, Department of Theology and Religion, Centre for West African Studies, Centre for the Study of Global Ethics. University of Bath, UK: Centre for Development Studies. Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, New Delhi. Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research, Ibadan. University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan. In addition to the research partners, links have been forged with non-academic and non-government bodies, including Islamic Relief. http://www.rad.bham.ac.uk Contact: [email protected] Religions and Development Working Paper 53 Religions, Ethics and Attitudes towards Corruption: A Study of Perspectives in India Vinod Pavarala and Kanchan K. Malik University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, AP ISBN: 978 0 7044 2868 3 © International Development Department, University of Birmingham This document is an output from a project funded by UK Aid from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) for the benefit of developing countries. The views expressed are not necessarily those of DFID. Working Paper 53 Religions, Ethics and Attitudes towards Corruption: A Study of Perspectives in India Contents Summary 1 1 Introduction 4 1.1 Background and rationale of the study 6 1.2 Methodology 6 2 Attitudes towards corruption – religious, ethics and cultural perspectives: a review of the literature 17 2.1 Corruption in India: an overview 17 2.2 Defining and interpreting corruption in the Indian context 19 2.3 References to religious values and beliefs in the academic literature on corruption 24 2.4 Culture and corruption: the tradition and modernity debate 27 2.5 Linking religion and morality: empirical studies 33 2.6 Ethics and belief systems 36 2.7 Conclusion 43 3 Social constructions of religiosity and corruption 45 3.1 On being ‘religious’ 45 3.2 Religions and value systems: ethical codes of conduct 53 3.3 Definitions and perceptions of corruption 62 3.4 Discourses on corruption in religious texts 71 3.5 Conclusion 72 4 Interpreting the influence of religion on attitudes towards corruption 73 4.1 Tradition, modernity and corruption 73 4.2 The role of religious organizations in promoting ethical conduct 80 4.3 The accountability of religious organizations 88 4.4 The accountability of religious organizations 91 5 Conclusions 94 Working Paper 53 Notes 100 References 101 Appendices 1 List of interviews and FGDs in Punjab 105 2 Issues for discussion with officials of religious organizations 110 3 FGD/Interview guide for perspectives from the secular sector 111 List of tables 1 Analytical categories 14 2 Social groups that offered a narrow/legalistic definition of corruption 63 3 Social groups that offered a broad/moralistic definition of corruption 67 Key words: corruption, religion, ethics, morality, India, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab Religions, Ethics and Attitudes towards Corruption: A Study of Perspectives in India 1 Summary In countries where religion plays a central role in people’s lives, it is expected that many people, including public servants, will derive their moral and ethical values from their religion. Religion provides many with a language of ethics and, often, an actual ‘list’ of rules by which to live, some of which may be relevant to fighting corruption. Problematically, however, many of the world’s most corrupt countries also rank highly in terms of levels of religiosity, suggesting that the relationships between widespread religious adherence and levels of corruption are not straightforward. Attempts to reduce corruption have had limited success, leading to a renewed interest in the role that religious values might play in future initiatives. This study assembles a picture of people’s religious beliefs, values, perceptions of corruption, and notions of tradition and modernity, based on extensive semi-structured interviews in several locations across India. Corruption is widespread, institutionalized and taken for granted in India and religion is central to many people’s lives. However, little is known about how religion, morality, ethics, and notions of modernity and tradition influence the context in which corruption occurs or people’s perceptions of its nature, causes and potential remedies. Until recently, research internationally has tended to adopt a quantitative approach. If considered at all, religion and tradition have, like corruption itself, been treated as discrete, objective phenomena. Very little attention has been given to the ways in which people interpret either ‘religion’ or ‘corruption’, or how they are perceived to be related. In contrast, this research sought to explore the beliefs, ideas, and meanings embedded in local conceptions of ‘religion’ and ‘corruption’, and how these are thought to influence attitudes and behaviour. The research aimed to provide insights into whether and how religious values and organizations might support efforts to fight corruption. In-depth interviews were conducted with 120 representatives from a variety of social groups, including the government, academia, the corporate world, development organizations, the media, youth and religious associations, mainly in Andhra Pradesh and Punjab. The interviews explored questions such as: What does it mean to be religious? How are people’s attitudes towards corruption influenced by their religious beliefs? How do perceptions of modernity and tradition intersect with religion and corruption? 2 Working Paper 53 The research also examined how Hindu and Sikh religious leaders and organizations are perceived, to determine whether they might play a role in anti-corruption efforts. Some of the key findings are: Religion is universally believed to be an essential part of life for Indian people, but its importance varies between individuals and the ways in which people understand and justify their religiosity differ. A distinction is made between ritual practices and the living out of religious tenets in everyday lives, with many believing that overt religiosity does not necessarily signify that a person is ‘truly religious’. Religion is seen as important for how people construct value systems, but these are subject to myriad influences. The family is said to play much the most important role in developing values. However, the personal, professional or socio-political environment in which a person finds him or herself exerts a strong influence, and often in practice there are contradictions between personal and professional moral codes. Some argue that certain religious ideas may encourage tolerance of corruption, for example, karma – the attribution of a person’s position and fortunes in this life to actions in previous lives. In addition, some are said to ‘bribe God’ by donating the proceeds of corruption to religious organizations. Religious leaders no longer seem to have moral influence. There is little agreement about what constitutes corruption. Some favour narrow/legalistic definitions, including acts such as bribery, misuse of office and misappropriation of public funds and donations. Others advocate broad/moralistic definitions, which view a large number of acts as corrupt, including gift-giving/’tipping’, nepotism and womanizing. Corruption is generally blamed on greed, materialism, the desire to succeed, cumbersome bureaucracy, loopholes in administration and failure to implement rules and laws. Tradition is not itself seen as promoting a ‘culture of corruption’