Conversion of a continent : contemporary religious change in Latin America / edited by Timothy J. Steigenga and Edward L. Cleary.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Steigenga, Timothy J., 1965-

Cleary, Edward L.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Conversion.

Latin America--Religion.

Latin America.

Religion.

Conversion--Latin America.

Physical Description:

vii, 290 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New Brunswick, N.J. : Rutgers University Press, [2007]

Summary:

A massive religious transformation has unfolded over the past forty years in Latin America and the Caribbean. In a region where the Catholic Church could once claim a near monopoly of adherents, religious pluralism has fundamentally altered the social and religious landscape. Conversion of a Continent is the first book to systematically bring insights from Latin American authors and case studies into dialogue on the topic of religious conversion. Chapters by Patricia Birman, Alejandro Frigerio, David Smilde, and others draw on various insights from social movement theory to religious studies to analyze both the process of conversion and its impact on national attitudes and activities, gender relations, identity politics, and reverse waves of missions aimed at the immigrant community. Unlike other studies on religious conversion, this volume pays close attention to who converts, under what circumstances, the meaning of conversion to the individual, and how the change affects converts' beliefs and actions. The thematic focus makes this volume important to students and scholars in both religious studies and Latin American studies.

Contents:

Part 1 Approaches to Conversion

1 Understanding Conversion in the Americas / Timothy J. Steigenga, Edward L. Cleary 3

2 Analyzing Conversion in Latin America: Theoretical Questions, Methodological Dilemmas, and Comparative Data from Argentina and Brazil / Alejandro Frigerio 33

3 Conversion Careers in Latin America: Entering and Leaving Church among Pentecostals, Catholics, and Mormons / Henri Gooren 52

4 Specialized Spirits: Conversion and the Products of Pneumacentric Religion in Latin America's Free Market of Faith / Andrew Chesnut 72

5 Relational Analysis of Religious Conversion and Social Change: Networks and Publics in Latin American Evangelicalism / David Smilde 93

Part 2 Conversion to What?

6 Conversion from Afro-Brazilian Religions to Neo-Pentecostalism: Opening New Horizons of the Possible / Patricia Birman 115

7 Conversion to Afro-Brazilian Religions in Buenos Aires: Convincing Interactions / Maria Julia Carozzi 133

8 The Catholic Charismatic Renewal: Revitalization Movements and Conversion / Edward L. Cleary 153

9 Conversion to Native Spirituality in the Andes: From Corpus Christi to Inti Raymi / Rachel Corr 174

Part 3 The Implications of Conversion

10 Indigenous Conversion to Catholicism: Change of Heart in Chiapas, Mexico / Christine Kovic 199

11 Stop Suffering? The Iglesia Universal del Reino de Dios in the United States / Virginia Garrard-Burnett 218

12 Healing the Nation: Pentecostal Identity and Social Change in Bolivia / Jill M. Wightman 239

13 The Politics of Pentecostalized Religion: Conversion as Pentecostalization in Guatemala / Timothy J. Steigenga 256.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780813542010

0813542014

9780813542027

0813542022

OCLC:

84838276