Classifying 'Secular' and 'Religious' Non-State Actors in Contexts that Complexify the Religious-Secular Divide

While involvement of religious actors in social and political settings across 'political secular' regimes in Europe and the MENA region has increased, there has sometimes been a lack of distinction between the notions of 'religious' and 'secular'. Within these political and cultural contexts, distinguishing between some religious non-state actors (specifically discussed here as service-oriented faith-based organisations) and their secular counterparts may be conceptually challenging. This paper discusses a conceptual tool that can allow for a more nuanced understanding and taxonomy of non-state actors than the binary (and possibly inaccurate) categories of ‘secular’ and ‘religious’. Specifically, the paper presents a typology that can provide clarity in distinguishing between non-state actors by classifying them based on the extent to which they integrate religion into their programming. In the extant literature, there are strong similarities among, as well as some shortcomings in, FBO typologies (i.e. they have typically given little or no attention to secular organisations). The typology in this paper modifies a typology in the literature (Sider and Unruh, 2004; Hefferan, et al., 2009) to provide an instrument whereby secular organisations and FBOs can be classified and understood more accurately, allowing them to be assessed side-by-side in theoretically important ways. Significantly, the typology considers that, in some contexts, ‘secular’ is not always absent of religion. The typology is a valuable contribution to future comparative studies of FBOs and secular organisations in contexts where culturally valued religious elements may be integrated into secular organisations. This typology can aid researchers and policy stakeholders in critically distinguishing to what extent religion is integrated into the work of non-state actors, helping to construct clarity about the role of religion in these organisations, and highlighting that religion is not always clearly separated from secular actors.