Catholicism and Democratization in Latin America. Rethinking the articulation between religion and politics in Southern Cone
1.5 Credit course, 7 sessions
Verónica Giménez Béliveau is a researcher in Social Sciences at the CONICET, and adjunct associate professor at University of Buenos Aires Faculty of Social Sciences. She is a graduate in Sociology of University of Buenos Aires. She also received her PhD from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (Paris- France) in 2004. Dr. Giménez Béliveau research falls at the nexus of religion and politics in the globalization era. Her most recent work focuses on transnational sociabilities and the modalities of construction of social community spaces inside and between national states. Her regional foci included Southern Cone of America urban areas, and the cultural and religious dynamics of their frontiers exchanges. Her current fieldwork is placed in the border area between Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil.
Dr. Giménez Béliveau has published multiple papers on the religious field in Argentina and America Latina, centered on catholic dynamics and identity processes in religious communities. She is the author of the volume La Triple Frontera, Globalización y construcción social del espacio, published in Buenos Aires in 2006.
Description
The redefinitions of public space from 1970 to nowadays, that we will study from the viewpoint of Catholicisim transformations and its articulation towards State structures, governments and civil society, has strong implications for Democracies in the region.
The course aims to analyze the linkage between religion and politics in Latin America, focusing specially in the Southern Cone countries (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay). The seminar stands on a sociological perspective, rethinking the meanings of secularization in the America’s Southern cone countries, heavily influenced by catholic religiosity and by the Catholic Church authority. In fact, local Modernity’s development involves processes, actors and structures which specific combination leads to particular socio-historical configurations.
The first part of the course (Sessions 1 and 2) will be devoted to the interpretation of the contemporary religious field in the south continent, taking into consideration the historical perspective and the regional heterogeneities. The second part (Sessions 3, 4 and 5) will be dedicated to reviewing transformations in contemporary Catholicism and to identifying the positioning towards political actors in public sphere. The third part (Sessions 6 and 7) will be devoted to the analysis of religious and political interactions in particular social and geographical contexts.
Course requirements
Students will have to write a final-20-page-research-paper, articulating identified problems in the classroom presentations with case studies.
Around 70% of the grade will be based on the final paper, and the rest 30% will be based on the class participation, the exchange of ideas and the discussion throughout the seminar.
Spanish and Portuguese reading is highly recommended.
Course Calendar
Session 1
General presentation: Religion and politics in Latin America from a historical perspective. Regional heterogeneities. Secularization: different modalities of articulation between State and Catholic Church. Catholic Church faces dictatorial and democratic governments: variations between national churches. Discussions about Latin American Modernity.
Biliography
Esquivel, J. (2005) "Da sociedade política à sociedade civil: a presença pública da Igreja Católica brasileira num período de instabilidade política (1952-2004)", Revista Projeto História N° 29. Programa de Estudos Pós-Graduados em História da PUC/SP, São Paulo, pp. 197-221.
Giménez Béliveau, V., Mallimaci, F. (2007) “Argentinien”, in: Johannes Meier/Veit Strassner (eds.): Kirche und Katholizismus seit 1945, Vol. 7: Lateinamerika und Karibik. Paderborn et al.: Schoeningh Verlag. Spanish electronic version available.
Caetano, G., Geymonat, R. (1997) La secularización uruguaya (1859- 1919). Catolicismo y privatización de lo religioso. Monevideo: Taurus.
Sanchís, P. (2001) “Religiões, religião… Alguns problemas do sincretismo no campo religioso brasilero”, in Sanchis, P. Fiéis & Cidadãos. Persursos de Sincretismo no Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: UERJ.
Session 2
Towards an interpretation of the contemporary religious field in the southern continent. De-catholization, pluralization, institutional fragmentation. The growth of pentecostalisms and the new demands towards public institutions.
Bibliography
Giménez Béliveau, V., Mallimaci, F. (2007) “Creencias e increencia en el Cono Sur de América. Entre la religiosidad difusa, la pluralización del campo religioso y las relaciones con lo público y lo político”, Revista Argentina de Sociología 9 (in press).
Geymonat, R., Sánchez, A. (2004) “Iglesia Católica, Estado y Sociedad en el Uruguay del siglo XX”, in Geymonat, R. Las religions en el Uruguay. Algunas aproximaciones. Montevideo: Ediciones La Gotera.
Pierucci, F., Prandi, R. (2000) “Religious Diversity in Brazil: Numbers and Perspectives in a Sociological Evaluation”, International Sociology 15, pp. 629-639.
Reyes Novaes, R. (1999) “Pentecôtisme a la brèsilienne: Des controverses en cours,” Archives de Sciences Sociales des Religions 105, pp. 125-143.
Session 3
The transformations in Catholicism from 1980’s. Catholicism streams and their different position towards politics and public space: A.) Emotional groups, social work and questions towards hierarchy.
Bibliography
Mallimaci, F. (1995). “Les courants au sein du Catholicisme argentin: continuités et ruptures”, Archives des Sciences Sociales des Religions 91, pp. 113-136.
Steil, C. A. (2006) “Catholic charismatic Renewal: a way into or out of
Catholicism? Ethnography of the São José group, in the city of Porto Alegre , Brazil”, Religião & Sociedade, 24(1), pp.182-190.
Gill, A. (1999) “The Struggle to Be Soul Provider: Catholic Responses to Protestant Growt in Latin America”, in Smith, C., Prokopy, J. Latin American Religion in Motion. New York: Routledge.
Session 4
Catholic streams (continuation): B.) Traditional communities facing the institution. Reconstructing a Memory, inventing a strong-ties community.
Bibliography
Giménez Béliveau V. (2007) “Carreras militantes. Comunidades católicas y formación de los sujetos en Argentina”, Ciencias Sociales y Religión/ Ciências Sociais & Religião 9(9), pp. 31-58.
Benelli, S. J., Costa-Rosa, A. (2006) “Movimentos religiosos totalitários católicos: efeitos em termos de produção de subjetividade” Estudos de psicologia 23(4), pp. 339-358.
Session 5
Catholic streams (continuation): C. The sons of Liberation Theology. Critics to institutional hierarchies, Options for the Poor. Social and Political commitment.
Bibliography
Mariz, C. (1992) “Religion and Poverty in Brazil: A Comparison of Catholic and Pentecostal Communities”, Sociological Analysis (53), Special Presidential Issue Conversion, Charisma, and Institutionalization, pp. S63-S70.
Giménez Béliveau, V. (2008) “Sociabilidades, liderazgos e identidad en los grupos católicos argentinos. Un acercamiento al fenómeno de los comunitarismos a través del caso de los Seminarios de Formación Teológica”, in Alonso, A. (comp) América Latina y el Caribe: territorios religiosos y desafíos para el diálogo. Buenos Aires, CLACSO (in press).
Campos Machado, M. D., Mariz, C. (2000) “Progressistas e católicas carismáticas: uma análise de discurso de mulheres de comunidades de base na atualidade brasileira”, Praia Vermelha. Estudos de política e Teoria Social 3, pp. 8-29.
Session 6
Conflicts in progress and innovative construction of public sphere questioning field limits and national boundaries: Transnational religious tendencies and their repercussion on public space. A.) Clash in the urban framework: the Pro-life groups and the Woman Conferences.
Bibliography
Casanova, J. (2001) “Civil Society and Religion: Retrospective reflections on Catholicism and Prospective Reflections on Islam”, Social Research 68(4), pp 1041-1080.
Caetano, G. (2004) “La instalación pública de la llamada “cruz del Papa” y los perfiles de un debate distinto”, in Geymonat, R. Las religiones en el Uruguay. Algunas aproximaciones. Montevideo: Ediciones La Gotera.
Tarducci, M., (2005) “La Iglesia Católica y los Encuentros Nacionales de Mujeres”, Estudios Feministas 13 (2), pp. 397-402.
Session 7
Conflicts in progress (continuation). B. Catholics and Pentecostals meanings creating in a transnational space: the case of the Tri-Border Area between Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil.
Bibliography
Segato, R. (2003) “La economía del deseo en el espacio virtual: hablando sobre religion por Internet”, in Segato, R. (2003) Las estructuras elementales de la violencia. Ensayos sobre género entre la antropología, el psicoanálisis y los derechos humanos, Buenos Aires: Prometeo. English version: “The economics of desire in virtual space: talking Christianity in the net”, Série Antropologia 193, 1995, Brasilia.
Segato, R. (2007). “La faccionalización de la República y el paisaje religioso como índice de una nueva territorialidad”, Segato, R. (2007) La Nación y sus otros. Buenos Aires: Prometeo.
Montenegro, S., Giménez Béliveau V. (2006) La Triple Frontera. Globalización y construcción social del espacio. Buenos Aires: Miño y Dávila.
General bibliography
Bianchi, S. (1997) “La conformación de la Iglesia católica como actor político –social : el episcopado argentino (1930- 1960),” Bianchi, S. , Spinelli, M. E. Actores, ideas y proyectos políticos en la Argentina contemporánea. Buenos Aires: Instituto de Estudios Histórico-sociales.
Campos Machado, M. D. (1996) Carismáticos e pentecostais. Adesão religiosa na esfera familiar. São Paulo: ANPOCS-Editora Autores Associados.
Corten, A. (1999) “Pentecôtalisme et ‘Néo-Pentecôtalisme’ en Bresil,” Archives de Sciences Sociales des Religions 105, pp. 163-182.
Da Costa, N. (2003) Religión y Sociedad en el Uruguay del siglo XXI. Un estudio de la religiosidad en Montevideo. Montevideo: Claeh/ Centro UNESCO Montevideo.
Di Stefano, R., Zanatta, L. (2000) Histoira de la Iglesia Argentina. Desde la conquista hasta fines del siglo XX. Buenos Aires: Mondatori.
Dussel, E. et al. (1994) Historia General de la Iglesia en América Latina. Cono Sur (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay y Paraguay. Volumen IX), Salamanca: Ediciones Sígueme.
Esquivel, J., García, F., Hadida, M. E., Houdín, V. (2001) Creencias y religiones en el Gran Buenos Aires. El caso de Quilmas. Buenos Aires: Universidad Nacional de Quilmes.
Esquivel, J. (2004) Detrás de los muros. La Iglesia católica en tiempos de Alfonsín y Menem (1983- 1999). Buenos Aires: Universidad Nacional de Quilmes.
Forni, F. (1993) “Nuevos movimientos religiosos en Argentina”, Frigerio, A. (comp.). Nuevos Movimientos religiosos y ciencias sociales. Buenos Aires: Centro Editor de América Latina.
Freston, P. (1999) “Neo-Pentecostalism in Brazil: Problems of Definition and the Struggle for Hegemony,” Archives de Sciencies Sociales des Religions 105, pp. 145-162.
Garrard-Burnett, V. (2004) “The Third Church in Latin America: Religion and Globalization in Contemporary Latin America,” Latin American Research Review 39(3), pp. 256-269.
Giménez Béliveau, V. (2005) “Sociabilidades de los laicos en el catolicismo en la Argentina. Un recorrido socio-histórico”, Prismas, Revista de historia intelectual 9, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, pp- 217-227.
Ireland, R. (1999) “Popular Religions and the Building of Democracy in Latin America: Saving the Tocquevillian Parallel”, Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs, 41(4), Special Issue: Religion in America: Churches, Globalization, and Democratization, pp. 111-136.
Levine, D. (1992) Popular voices in Latin American Catholicism. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University press.
Löwy, M. (1996) The War of Gods. Religion and Politics in Latin America. New York/ London: Verso.
Mallimaci, F. (2001) “Catholicisme et libéralisme: les étapes de l’affrontement pour la définition de la modernité religieuse en Amérique Latine”, in Bastian, P. (éd), La modernité religieuse en perspective comparée, Europe latine- Amérique Latine. Clamecy: Karthala.
Mariz, C., Campos Machado, M. D. (1998) “Changements rícents dans le champ religieux brésilien,” Social Compass 45(3).
Míguez D. (1999) "Exploring the Argentinian Case: Religious Motives in the Growth of Latin American Pentecostalism," in Smith, C., Prokopy, J. Latin American religion in motion. New York: Routledge.
Míguez, D. (1999) "Why Are Pentecostals Politically Ambiguous? Pentecostalism and Politics in Argentina," European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, 67 (Dec. 1999)
Oro, A., Seman, P. (2000) "Pentecostalism in the Southern Cone Countries: Overview and Perspectives", International sociology 15(4), pp 605-628
Zanatta, L. (1998). “Religión, nación y derechos humanos. El caso argentino en perspectiva histórica”, Revista de Ciencias Sociales 7-8, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, pp. 169-188.
