Researching the Heartland of Pentecostalism
Latin Americans at Home and Abroad
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/firn.v3i2.122Keywords:
development, human rights, Latin America, missions, Pentecostalism, secularization, violenceAbstract
Latin America is undergoing a singular process of Christian pluralization from within and from the bottom up. It is thus a unique site for globalizing the US–European debate on religion and modernity. Pentecostalism has been the engine of religious change in Latin America, introducing a new model of the religious field. This article examines the relationship between the simultaneous growth of Pentecostalism and “no religion.” Latin America is also an important site for exploring the validity of controversial interpretations of the political implications of global southern Protestantism, with regard to geopolitics, democracy, urban violence and human rights. This paper also asks what light is thrown by Latin American Pentecostalism on the historical correlation between Protestantism and economic development, and by Latin American Pentecostal missionaries on the global debate about the rights and wrongs of proselytism. The conclusion discusses how the approaching ceiling on Pentecostal growth will change its sociological characteristics.
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References
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Brouwer, S., P. Gifford and S. Rose, 1996. Exporting the American Gospel: Global Christian Fundamentalism. London: Routledge.
Cleary, Edward. 1999. “The Catholic Church.” In Paul Sigmund ed. Religious Freedom and Evangelization in Latin America. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 11–27.
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Corten, André. 2006. “Peur et religion: de la violence d’État à la violence privatisée,” Social Compass, 53.2, 185–94. doi:10.1177/0037768606064322
Cox, Harvey. 1996. Fire From Heaven. London: Cassell.
Davie, Grace, Paul Heelas and Linda Woodhead eds. 2003. Predicting Religion. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Fontaine Talavera, Arturo, and Harald Bayer. 1991. “Retrato del Movimiento Evangélico a la Luz de las Encuestas de Opinión Pública,” Estudios Públicos, 44, 63–124.
Freire-Medeiros, Bianca, and Filippina Chinelli. 2003. “Favela e Redes Solidárias: Formas Contemporâneas de Mobilização e Organização Popular no Rio de Janeiro.” CSUIM Working Paper # 2–BRA-01.
Freston, Paul. 2000. The Transnationalisation of Brazilian Pentecostalism: The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God,” in André Corten, and Ruth Fratani eds. Between Babel and Pentecost: Transnational Pentecostalism in Africa and Latin America. London and Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 196–215.
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—2004. “Les Dynamiques Missionnaires Internationales du Pentecôtisme Brésilien,” in Sebastien Fath ed. Le Protestantisme Évangélique: un Christianisme de Conversion. Paris: Brepols, 123–43.
—2005. “The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God: A Brazilian Church Finds Success in Southern Africa,” Journal of Religion in Africa, 35.1, 33–65. doi:10.1163/1570066052995816
—2007a. “Latin America: The ‘Other Christendom,’ Pluralism and Globalization,” in Peter Beyer and Lori Beaman eds. Globalization, Religion and Culture. Leiden: Brill, 577–99.
—2007b. Religious Change and Economic Development in Latin America. Paper presented at the conference on Religion and Development, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, http://www. religionanddevelopment.nl.
—2008a. “The Changing Face of Christian Proselytising: New Actors from the Global South Transforming Old Debates,” in Rosalind Hackett ed. Proselytization Revisited: Rights Talk, Free Markets, and Culture Wars. London: Equinox.
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—forthcoming. “Religious Pluralism, Democracy and Human Rights in Latin America,” in T. Banchoff and R. Wuthnow eds. Religion and the Global Politics of Human Rights. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gill, Anthony. 2004. “Weber in Latin America: Is Protestant Growth Enabling the Consolidation of Democratic Capitalism?” Democratization, 11.4 (August), 42–65.
Gómez, Jorge. 1996. El Crecimiento y la Deserción en la Iglesia Evangélica Costarricense. San José: IINDEF.
Jacob, Cesar Romero, et al. 2003. Atlas da Filiação Religiosa e Indicadores Sociais no Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: Ed. PUC-Rio/São Paulo: Loyola.
Jenkins, Philip. 2002. The Next Christendom. New York: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ 0195146166.001.0001
Lins, Paulo, and Maria de Lourdes da Silva. 1990. “Bandidos e Evangélicos: Extremos que se Tocam,” Religião e Sociedade, 15.1, 166–73.
Martin, David. 1990. Tongues of Fire. Oxford: Blackwell.
—2002. Pentecostalism: The World their Parish. Oxford: Blackwell.
Neri, Marcelo. 2005. “A Ética Pentecostal e o Declínio Católico.” Rio de Janeiro, Fundação Getúlio Vargas, http://www.fgv.br/cps/artigos/conjuntura/2005/a%20ética%20 Pentecostal%20e%20o%20declínio%20católico_mai2005.pdf.
Norris, Pippa, and Ronald Inglehart. 2004. Sacred and Secular. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Novaes, Regina Reyes. 2001. “Pentecostalismo, política, mídia e favela,” in Victor Vincent Valla ed. Religião e Cultura Popular. Rio de Janeiro: DP&A, 41–74.
Prandi, Reginaldo. 1996. “Religião Paga, Conversão e Serviço,” in Antônio Flávio Pierucci and Reginaldo Prandi, A Realidade Social das Religiões no Brasil. São Paulo: Hucitec, 257–73.
Spirit and Power. 2006. Washington, The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, http:// pewforum.org/publications/surveys/Pentecostals-06.pdf.
Velho, Otávio. 2000. “An Assessment of the Interreligious Situation in Brazil,” World Council of Churches, http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/interreligious/cd36-03.html.
Published
2010-01-15
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Articles
How to Cite
Freston, P. (2010). Researching the Heartland of Pentecostalism: Latin Americans at Home and Abroad. Fieldwork in Religion, 3(2), 122-144. https://doi.org/10.1558/firn.v3i2.122
