Youth at the margins: Introducing a new research initiative in an ongoing south-north collaboration in the context of international diaconia

Abstract

Abstract This article holds up the development of an expanding South-North collaboration between researchers from South Africa and the Nordic European countries of Finland, Sweden and Norway as an example of what can also be recognised as a new-found intentional initiative by the International Society for the Research and Study of Diaconia and Christian Social Practice (ReDi) to develop the field of International Diaconia, and, more specifically, of the establishment of particular relationships (South-North and East-South) within this development. The discussion starts by pointing out how this collaboration found its initial expression in a research initiative that was known as the WRIGP project (an acronym for 'Welfare and Religion in a Global Perspective'). It proceeds by indicating how the collaboration will be continued and expanded upon in a newly conceptualised collaborative initiative referred to as the YOMA project (an acronym for 'Youth at the Margins'). Within this framework, the article specifi...