Organized Religion in the Political Transformation of Latin America

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

This book discusses how the competitive environment of Latin America's social life has facilitated religious innovation in different regional and national settings. Pattnayak argues that organized religion has responded admirably to change and competition and will survive well in the period of increasing democratization of Latin America. In addition, the author shows how religious change that focuses on community organization, mobilization, and education of the citizenry carries wider legitimacy than ordinary political strategies. Readers of this book will benefit from its wide coverage of the Catholic and the Protestant churches and its definitive statements about the political capability of religious communities. An excellent text for students in courses on religion and politics, social change, social movements, and state-society relations. University libraries, persons interested in church-state relations in Latin America, churches and parishes that have branches in Latin America, and professors and scholars of history, sociology, anthropology, political science, and religious studies will all benefit from this concise and definitive look at religion and politics in Latin America.

Reviews

The present volume serves as a useful corrective to the flood of impressionistic works and reflects the increasing maturation of the field...it provides a solid basis for understanding the actual role of religion, and particularly the Catholic Church,in contemporary Latin America...[the book] provides not only a realistic view of the role of religion in contemporary Latin America, but also a healthy critique of much of the literature in the field. * Journal of Latin American Studies *
An interesting analysis of new Catholic pastoral strategies in Bolivia. * Journal of Church and State *
Several of the essays suggest that the institutional capacity of the Church has diminished, to the detriment of any political role the Church might wish to play...the theme of diminishing resources (priests, funds, schools, etc.) is also addressed in a sophisticated empirical appendix compiled by the editor...these essays remind us that religion is a potentially powerful resource, but one which is capable of serving a variety of masters. Even in a setting not characterized by a legal separation of church and state, the political and theological barriers which render religious politics difficult are quite formidable. * Sociology of Religion: A Quarterly Review *
Several of the essays suggest that the institutional capacity of the Church has diminished, to the detriment of any political role the Church might wish to play...the theme of diminishing resources (priests, funds, schools, etc.) is also addressed in a sophisticated empirical appendix compiled by the editor...these essays remind us that religion is a potentially powerful resource, but one which is capable of serving a variety of masters. Even in a setting not characterized by a legal separation of church and state, the political and theological barriers which render religious politics difficult are quite formidable. * Sociology of Religion: A Quarterly Review *
The present volume serves as a useful corrective to the flood of impressionistic works and reflects the increasing maturation of the field...it provides a solid basis for understanding the actual role of religion, and particularly the Catholic Church, in contemporary Latin America...[the book] provides not only a realistic view of the role of religion in contemporary Latin America, but also a healthy critique of much of the literature in the field. * Journal of Latin American Studies *
An interesting analysis of new Catholic pastoral strategies in Bolivia. * Journal of Church and State *

Author Bio

Satya R. Pattnayak is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Villanova University.