Campus Location

Abilene Campus (Residential)

Date of Award

12-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Committee Chair or Primary Advisor

Christopher Flanders

Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor

Suzanne Macaluso

Third Committee Member or Committee Reader

Jason Borges

Abstract

Patronage-clientelism is a current and important topic of discussion among the anthropological and missiological community. The effects of unintended patronage by Western missionaries in the context of Thai culture, however, are underexplored in academic research. In this study, I analyzed the effects of unintentional patronage among Western missionaries in a Thai cross-cultural ministry context. To do this I utilized a multiple case study method in which I compared four cases and analyzed for examples of how unintentional patronage is generated. I discovered that unintentional patronage was likely a result of insufficient missionary education regarding patronage-clientelism, as well as a lack of educational resources available to missionaries in the field. My study demonstrated that unintentional patronage is a very real concern for Western missionaries working in Thailand. Based on my research, I conclude that missionary training must incorporate patronage-clientelism education into standard practice, and all effort be made to make patronage-clientelism focused resources accessible for missionaries working in the field.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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