1st Edition

Latin American Religion in Motion

Edited By Christian Smith, Joshua Prokopy Copyright 1999

    Latin America is undergoing a period of intense religious transformation and upheaval. This book analyzes some of the more important new discoveries about religious movements in the region. It examines important shifts such as the expansion and politicization of Protestantism, the ongoing transformation of the Catholic church, the growth of Afro-Brazilian religions, and the genuine pluralization of faith.

    Introduction: Joshua Prokopy and Christian Smith--Latin American Religion in Motion ,PART I: ROMAN CATHOLICISM ,1. Anthony Gill--The Struggle to be Soul Provider: Catholic Responses to Protestant Growth in Latin America ,2. Liesl Haas--The Catholic Church in Chile: New Political Alliances ,3. Sarah Brooks--Catholic Activism in the 1990s: New Strategies for the Neoliberal Age. ,4. Kristin Norget--Progressive Theology and Popular Religiosity in Oaxaca, Mexico. ,5. Marjo de Thieje--CEBs and Catholic Charismatics in Brazil. ,PART II: PROTESTANTS AND EVANGELISTS ,6. David Smilde--El Clamor por Venezuela: Latin American Evangelism as a Collective Action Frame. ,7. Matthew Marostica--The Defeat of Denominational Culture in the Argentine Evangelical Movement. ,8. Timothy Steigenga and David Smilde--Wrapped in the Holy Shawl: The Strange Case of Conservative Christians and Gender Equality in Latin America. ,9. Frans Kamsteeg--Pentecostalism and Political Awakening in Pinochet's Chile and Beyond. ,10. Cecília Mariz and Clara Mafra--Family and Reproduction among Protestants in Rio de Janeiro. ,11. Daniel Miguez--Religious Motives in the Growth of Latin American Pentecostalism: Exploring the Argentinian Case. ,PART III: NON-CHRISTIAN AND CREOLE RELIGIONS ,12. Robert Carpenter--Esoteric Literature as a Microcosmic Mirror of Brazil's Religious Marketplace. ,13. Hans Siebers--Globalization and Religious Creolization among the Q'eqchi'es of Guatemala. ,14. Tina Gudrun Jensen--Discourses on Afro-Brazilian Religion: From De-Africanization to Re-Africanization.

    Biography

    Christian Smith is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is author of American Evangelism: Embattled and Thriving (1998), Resisting Reagan: The U.S. Central America Peace Movement (1996), The Emergence of Liberation Theology: Radical Religion and Social Movement Theory (1991) and editor of Disruptive Religion: The Source of Faith in Social Movement Activism (Routledge, 1996). Joshua Prokopy is a graduate student in Sociology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

    "...gives us a good sense of how pluralistic the region's religious field has become. This edited volume contains a well-balanced set of case studies dealing with the "usual suspects" - Brazilian CEBs and Pentecostals, for instance - as well as countries and religious traditions that have recieved little attention. Religious Studies Review, Volume 26, Number 4, Oct 2000."
    "Despite its title, this edited volume of collected studies contributed by some of the up-and-coming scholars of religion in Latin America is an outstanding work. It should be read - immediately - by anyone who is interested in religion and modern spirituality." -- The Americas
    "Despite its title, this edited volume of collected studies contributed by some og the up-and-coming scholars of religion in Latin America is an outstanding work. It should be read - immediately - by anyone who is interested in religion and modern spirituality." -- The Americas