Much has been made of the dramatic rise of Protestantism in Latin America. This title offers a comprehensive treatment of Charismatic Catholicism, revealing its importance to the Catholic Church as well as the people of Latin America.
Modernity of Religiosities and Beliefs: A New Path in Latin America From the Nineteenth to Twenty-First Century synthesizes new research on various phenomena related to religions and beliefs in Latin America. The contributors provide comprehensive analytical interpretations of Latin American spheres of religious ideas and worldviews and show that they are a key element to understanding the history of the region. Overall, this book gives an account of the whole spectrum of religious phenomena in Latin American societies, providing a “global” interpretation that will contribute to the study of political, economic, and cultural modernities in Latin America.
Democracy In Twenty-First Century America is an exercise in religious and political philosophy. Fundamentally concerned with the racial and economic crisis of democracy in the United States, this book engages the new face of inequality in America and the new challenges presented to the American democratic project. Neat claims that the racial and economic inequality of today are reflective of two Americas-First World America and Third World America-which were made visible in 2005 through the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Katrina. Katrina's devastation revealed social conditions that are pervasive throughout America and the South. In particular, it revealed a class of abandoned citizens who are referred to throughout this book as America's Least Wanted. Addressing the population of one Southern state, South Carolina, this book contends that the vestiges of America's past are now compounded with unprecedented racial and economic dilemmas. Such a state of affairs calls for reinvigorated religious and political thinking where democracy is concerned. The author turns to the thought of Benjamin Elijah Mays, a religious and political thinker who contributed to the expansion of American democracy during the latter half of the twentieth century and is one resource for engaging the crisis of democracy in twenty-first-century America. Book jacket.
Latin American societies were created as pre-industrial colonies, that is, peoples whose cultures and racial makeup were largely determined by having been conquered by Spain or Portugal. In all these societies, a colonial heritage created political and social attitudes that were not conducive to the construction of democratic civil societies. And yet, Latin America has a public life--not merely governments, but citizens who are actively involved in trying to improve the lives and welfare of their populations. Monteon focuses on the relation of people's lifestyles to the evolving pattern of power relations in the region. Much more than a basic description of how people lived, this book melds social history, politics, and economics into one, creating a full picture of Latin American life. There are two poles or markers in the narrative about people's lives: the cities and the countryside. Cities have usually been the political and cultural centers of life, from the conquest to the present. Monteon concentrates on cities in each chronological period, allowing the narrative to explain the change from a religiously-centered life to the secular customs of today, from an urban form organized about a central plaza and based on walking, to one dominated by the automobile and its traffic. Each chapter relates the connections between the city and its countryside, and explains the realities of rural life. Also discussed are customs, diets, games and sports, courting and marriage, and how people work.
Latin America is home to emerging global powers such as Brazil and Mexico and has important links to other titans including China, India, and Africa. Global Latin America examines a range of historical events and cultural forms in Latin America that continue to influence peoples’ lives far outside the region. Its innovative essays, interviews, and stories focus on insights from public intellectuals, political leaders, artists, academics, and activists from the region, allowing students to gain an appreciation of the global relevance of Latin America in the twenty-first century.
This volume focuses on religion from a trans-cultural and international perspective. Its aim is to open up new perspectives on how religions might coexist peacefully within 21st century societies and simultaneously contribute to global pacification. Can a religion cope peacefully with the existence of other religions, without having to abandon its own claim to truth, and if so, what already inherent, specific characteristics would have to be emphasized? Or is secular culture the path to convince different religions of a shared ideal of peaceful co-existence? These questions are approached considering the socio-political implications of religions in Asian, African, Latin-American and European contexts. This collection of essays reflects on the entire spectrum of the highly topical and complex academic discussions pertaining to the interrelation of society, state and religion. One example in this collection features the analysis of a secular state engaging in dialog with Muslim communities through a state-moderated communication platform; another article concentrates on the political impact of Christian churches on Nigerian society by means of political advertisement. Moreover, the different concepts of religion in Western societies are considered: one essay argues that in democratic societies it is the state that must guarantee the freedom of religion and thereby provide the basis for a peaceful co-existence between all religions.
The Cambridge History of Religions in Latin America covers religious history in Latin America from pre-Conquest times until the present. This publication is important; first, because of the historical and contemporary centrality of religion in the life of Latin America; second, for the rapid process of religious change which the region is undergoing; and third, for the region's religious distinctiveness in global comparative terms, which contributes to its importance for debates over religion, globalization, and modernity. Reflecting recent currents of scholarship, this volume addresses the breadth of Latin American religion, including religions of the African diaspora, indigenous spiritual expressions, non-Christian traditions, new religious movements, alternative spiritualities, and secularizing tendencies.
The diverse case studies in this volume explore facets of the Protestant movement in Central and South America, such as the role of women, the connection with Catholic mysticism, the politics of supposedly conservative evangelical misssionaries, and the implications for existing patterns of authority.