An enchanted modernity

Making sense of Latin America's religious landscape

Bibliographic Data

ID5160799
AuthorsG Morello Sj (0000-0002-0332-9616, Boston College), Catalina Romero (0000-0002-6926-9484, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú), Hugo H Rabbia (0000-0001-9241-5155, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas), Hugo Rabbia, Néstor Da C Costa (0000-0002-6719-8424, Universidad Católica del Uruguay), Néstor Da Costa
Year2017
Volume5
Issue3
Pages308-326
Publication date2017-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCritical Research on Religion (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2050-3032 • E-ISSN: 2050-3040
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/2050303217732131
OpenAlexW2755685129
LanguageEN
Citations received53
References cited77

This is an interpretative, critical, and selective review of scholarly contributions that explore Latin America's religious landscape. We present data, both qualitative and quantitative, from Latin America and analyze the explanations given to make sense of it. After assessing the literature that uses either secularization theory or the "religious economy" approach, we study explanations that highlight a Latin American style of "popular religiosity." These three models, in different ways, put the emphasis on religious institutions-their vitality, commands, competition, and authority. We propose, instead, a focus on the religious practices of regular believers. We speculate that embarking from that focus, the idea of an "enchanted modernity" will help make sense of Latin America's religious landscape. Nuanced elucidation of Latin America's religious particularities will situate them in dialogue with other regions of the world, like western Europe and the United States, while also acknowledging the fact that Latin America is experiencing a modernization process distinct from the North Atlantic one

Latin Americans · Modernity · Modernization theory · Political science · Religiosity · Secularization · Sociology · Theology · Vitality · Law · Philosophy · Religion and Society in Latin America · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Society, and Development

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