Many scholars claim that Pentecostalism is the fastest growing religious phenomenon in human history. Using two important essays of Max Weber as a foundation, this thesis examines whether growth of Pentecostalism in Latin America is promoting the Protestant Ethic described by Weber as well as Social Capital and Spiritual Capital. Analyzing data from the World Values Survey, this thesis argues that growth of Pentecostalism in Latin America is not creating a new Protestant Ethic among its followers, nor is Pentecostalism creating any greater Social Capital or Spiritual Capital among its followers when compared to other religious groups in the region. This thesis argues that the strong emotional character of Pentecostalism weighs against the creation or Social Capital and Spiritual Capital and that the tendency of Pentecostals to find assurance of their salvation in emotional experience does not promote the frugality or rationalization of work necessary for the Protestant Ethic.

There is a rising global concern that centers on creating an ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable world for current and future generations. This rising sustainability consciousness is built on higher-level value systems that support the sacredness of people and nature. These values promote environmental and social responsibility as avenues to fair profits, and they are currently penetrating the global business environment. Because of their coevolutionary relationships with the business environment, business organizations are now faced with the need to craft efficient and effective triple bottom line strategies that allows them to earn profits in sustainable ways. Because sustainability is complex, multifaceted concept with deep spiritual roots, building triple bottom line strategies requires that organizations develop intangible spiritual capabilities (i.e. spiritual intelligence and spiritual capital) that are valuable, rare, holistic, socially complex, and causally ambiguous, making them difficult to imitate.

Spiritual organizations have historically played an important role in social and civil movements (Aminzade & Perry 2007). This research is one investigation of how spiritual organizations may benefit sustainability initiatives and contribute to increased community resilience. Based on a case study of the Transition Towns movement in the United Kingdom, the research also addresses how to minimize anticipated and actual pitfalls of spiritual organization involvement. Research was conducted through the use of semi-structured telephone interviews with key-informants within Transition Towns in the United Kingdom and with affiliated spiritual organizations. An analysis of themes discussed by participants and relevant literature suggests that the benefits of involving spiritual organizations in sustainability initiatives include the following: institutional (benefits derived from well established institutions such as churches); normative (benefits derived from a non-pragmatic based rationale for committing to social change as well as assigning intrinsic values to Nature); motivational (benefits derived from the ability of spiritual organizations to motivate people); leadership/influence (the influence and leadership that individuals with spiritual background can have in sustainability initiatives); bonding/ bridging (benefits to social capital derived from the strengthened community ties that spiritual organizations can create). Of these, the benefit of normative values was identified as most important by interviewees. Based on these findings, this research argues that spiritual capital is an important social capital resource for sustainability initiatives. Anticipated pitfalls of involving spiritual organizations in sustainability initiatives reported by interviewees included: fears of division (concern that involvement of spiritual organization could divide members along theological lines); belief that explicit reference to spirituality is “off putting” (people from diverse spiritual backgrounds or who identified as non-spiritual might be less likely to take part in situations identified with one or more specific spiritual groups or traditions) and structural or institutional barriers (based on belief, or traditions of practice, spiritual organizations might be unlikely to take part). A key finding was that Transition Town members were not experiencing these pitfalls. Another key finding was that the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) were very involved in the Transition Towns movement. It was concluded based on these findings that spiritual organizations have been able to benefit Transition Towns sustainability initiatives in the UK. Findings suggest that spiritual organizations which are most able to act as important sources of ‘spiritual capital’ for sustainability and community resilience initiatives are identified with the following characteristics: non-proselytizing, socially and theologically inclusive, and emphasizing social and/or environmental justice. By being a source of spiritual capital, spiritual organizations can offer the beneficial components of normative values that motivate, influence and bind communities.

Diplominiame darbe bandoma nustatyti kuo yra svarbūs žmogiškieji kapitalai organizacijoms bei visuomenei ir kiekvienam individui atskirai. Aptariamos dvasinio, žmogiškojo, intelektinio bei socialinio kapitalo sąvokos bei jų įtaka organizacijų veiklai. Kadangi dvasinis kapitalas yra kiekvieno asmens esmė formuojant jo veiklą, tad teorinėje dalyje plačiau nagrinėjama šio naujo kapitalo raiška bei pritaikymas skirtingose organizacijose – Kauno apskrities priešgaisrinėje gelbėjimo valdyboje bei AB „Lytagroje“. Tyrimas parodė, jog organizacija, kuri turi kilnesnį tikslą nei pelno siekimas bei stipresnę organizacijos kultūrą gali lengviau kauti dvasinį kapitalą, yra lankstesnė, žmonės gerbia savo vadovus bei yra lojalūs savo organizacijai. Sklandaus bendravimo dėka darbas atliekamas efektyviai ir noriai. Trečiojoje dalyje pateikiami pasiūlymai, kaip būtų galima verslo organizacijoms kaupti dvasinį kapitalą ir padidinti savo konkurencingumą rinkoje. Organizacijų vadovams patariama pasitelkti kursus, kuriuose darbuotojai butu skatinami tobulėti asmeniškai arba grupėse. Čia žmonės galėtų geriau pažinti save, išsikelti aukštesnius tikslus, labiau pasitikėti savimi, tapti lojalesniais savo kompanijai, kuri tobulėjančių vadovų dėka taptų novatoriškesne, besivadovaujančia tikrosiomis ir visuotinai priimtomis vertybėmis. / The diploma is about advantages that can give spiritual, human, intellectual and social capital to the human, organizations and community. Also, there are some discussions about the descriptions and expressions of these capitals in organizations. The spiritual capital is the force which forms the human personality, gives the motivation of what he is doing and how he does it. So, the second part of diploma tells about the research that was made to see different expression of the spiritual capital in the different types of organizations - Kaunas area Fire-prevention Saving Service and the joint-stock company Lytagra. The research showed that organization with high and noble aim and strong organization culture can more easily hill up the social capital and become flexible, effective and keep the loyalty of the workers. The third part of the diploma suggests the program to the leaders of the organizations. It is about individual ant group learning which can hell people to know better themselves and understand what hey want from their lives and to set their aims. The result of this learning can give self confidence, the loyalty to the organization and innovation by working on the real values of live.

Spiritual organizations have historically played an important role in social and civil movements (Aminzade & Perry 2007). This research is one investigation of how spiritual organizations may benefit sustainability initiatives and contribute to increased community resilience. Based on a case study of the Transition Towns movement in the United Kingdom, the research also addresses how to minimize anticipated and actual pitfalls of spiritual organization involvement. Research was conducted through the use of semi-structured telephone interviews with key-informants within Transition Towns in the United Kingdom and with affiliated spiritual organizations. An analysis of themes discussed by participants and relevant literature suggests that the benefits of involving spiritual organizations in sustainability initiatives include the following: institutional (benefits derived from well established institutions such as churches); normative (benefits derived from a non-pragmatic based rationale for committing to social change as well as assigning intrinsic values to Nature); motivational (benefits derived from the ability of spiritual organizations to motivate people); leadership/influence (the influence and leadership that individuals with spiritual background can have in sustainability initiatives); bonding/ bridging (benefits to social capital derived from the strengthened community ties that spiritual organizations can create). Of these, the benefit of normative values was identified as most important by interviewees. Based on these findings, this research argues that spiritual capital is an important social capital resource for sustainability initiatives. Anticipated pitfalls of involving spiritual organizations in sustainability initiatives reported by interviewees included: fears of division (concern that involvement of spiritual organization could divide members along theological lines); belief that explicit reference to spirituality is “off putting” (people from diverse spiritual backgrounds or who identified as non-spiritual might be less likely to take part in situations identified with one or more specific spiritual groups or traditions) and structural or institutional barriers (based on belief, or traditions of practice, spiritual organizations might be unlikely to take part). A key finding was that Transition Town members were not experiencing these pitfalls. Another key finding was that the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) were very involved in the Transition Towns movement. It was concluded based on these findings that spiritual organizations have been able to benefit Transition Towns sustainability initiatives in the UK. Findings suggest that spiritual organizations which are most able to act as important sources of ‘spiritual capital’ for sustainability and community resilience initiatives are identified with the following characteristics: non-proselytizing, socially and theologically inclusive, and emphasizing social and/or environmental justice. By being a source of spiritual capital, spiritual organizations can offer the beneficial components of normative values that motivate, influence and bind communities.

The lack of consensus and consistency in defining and integrating the role of religion in development cooperation as well as in resilience building agendas undermines the Global Development Agenda and the effectiveness of interventions being implemented in the Global South. This research examines international development and aid organizations’ resilience frameworks and concepts, such as the ACT Church of Sweden, Oxfam, Lutheran World Relief, Islamic Relief Worldwide, and Baha’i International Community. The data collection and analysis are guided by the Social Capital Theory and by Resilience Building Approach. Analyzing how international organizations theorize the role of religion in resilience building provides this research with concrete examples to how faith-based actors are pinnacle actors of their communities during shocks, stressors, and everyday adversities. Spirituality in specific is a powerful capital that drives inner and outer movements and contribute to building hopeful and compassionate societies. However, this role of religion, faith, and spirituality and their conceptualization and use by faith actors remains to be complex and problematic to donor, intergovernmental and governmental agencies.

Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T20:48:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 71050100662.pdf.jpg: 16335 bytes, checksum: 4e90463f2fd6b8004714ca3ad2b27933 (MD5) 71050100662.pdf.txt: 666930 bytes, checksum: 02eb4c5a86c3d81814ac4d0d57e3172b (MD5) 71050100662.pdf: 2694106 bytes, checksum: b5c9ff629ce055c1a11850a7cbb1afd4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-02-22T00:00:00Z / With this work I intended to approach the following research problem: In which ways do the religious organizations promote the entrepreneurship among their members and how they support the enterprising follower in Brazil? The research has the economic sociology approach and the strategy I employ in my research is a qualitative and comparative case study of two religious organizations. The first one is of the Catholic Church, called Focolare Movement. And the other one is of an Evangelical Church, locally denominated “Renascer em Cristo” (Reborn in Christ). The data were collected through observation, interviews and documental research. In general, the religious structures of the investigated organizations form a special type of social capital, denominated of spiritual capital – through closure of social networks, appropriable social organization, obligations and norms, information channels and religious networks of mutual aid – capable to create and support organizational resources, which are cultural/symbolic resources, formation, information and spiritual support/motivational spaces, and that are mobilized in a way that facilitates the entrepreneurs’ actions. These resources give relative advantages to the entrepreneurs, such as: religious technologies; psychological support; reduction of the costs of the collection and access to the information, of negotiation and of the establishment of contracts; specific information and interpreted in agreement with the religious world vision; a system of meanings that creates that world vision and sustained by the plausibility structures, giving them larger subjective degree of certainty, hope and faith concerning their businesses; services rendered technicians by members of the organization; development of the human capital due to the continuous learning through courses, seminars, lectures, and congresses; changes of experience; and possibilities of businesses, including possible partners, suppliers and customers. / Com esse trabalho me propus a abordar o seguinte problema de pesquisa: como as organizações religiosas incentivam o empreendedorismo e apóiam o empreendedor-adepto. A estratégia de pesquisa adotada foi o estudo de caso qualitativo e comparativo de duas organizações religiosas: uma evangélica (Igreja Renascer em Cristo) e outra católica (Movimento dos Focolares). Os dados foram coletados por meio de observação, entrevistas e pesquisa documental. Viu-se que, de modo geral, as estruturas religiosas das organizações investigadas formam um tipo especial de capital social, denominado de capital espiritual – por meio de “fechamento” de redes sociais, organização social apropriável, obrigações e normas, canais de informações e redes religiosas de ajuda mútua – capaz de criar e sustentar recursos organizacionais – quais sejam, recursos culturais/simbólicos, espaços de formação, informação e apoio espiritual/motivacional – e que são mobilizados de modo a facilitar as ações de seus empreendedores. Tais recursos dão vantagens relativas a esses empreendedores por oferecerem benefícios tais como: tecnologias religiosas; apoio psicológico; redução dos custos da coleta e acesso à informação, de negociação e do estabelecimento de contratos; informações específicas e interpretadas de acordo com a visão de mundo religiosa; um sistema de significados que cria essa visão de mundo e sustentada pelas estruturas de plausibilidade, dando-lhes maior grau subjetivo de certeza, esperança e fé acerca de seus negócios; prestações de serviços técnicos por parte de membros da organização; desenvolvimento do capital humano devido à aprendizagem contínua por meio de cursos, seminários, palestras, congressos; trocas de experiência; e possibilidades de negócios, incluindo possíveis parceiros, fornecedores e clientes.