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Holy Saints and Fiery Preachers: The Anthropology of Protestantism in Mexico and Central America
Abstract and Figures
The primary goal of this book is to present empirical data on Protes-
tantism in contemporary Mesoamerica and to offer a rich mix of theoreti-
cal explanations that can eventually be triangulated to build a more com-
plete anthropological understanding of the role that Protestantism plays
in the region. Most of the chapters in the volume are based upon ethno-
graphic fieldwork. Exceptions are Chapter 1 by James Dow and Chapter 8
by Henri Gooren, both of whom use census data or other documentary
evidence in their analyses. Each chapter reveals some of the multiple fac-
tors that lead people in the region to adopt the new religions and provides
a sample of theoretical approaches currently being developed to explain
ethnographic findings. Authors share a commitment to empirical research
and to the development of increasingly sophisticated theories to explain
their data. Taken together, the chapters help the reader both to grasp the
scope of the Protestant revolution and to understand the implications of
conversion for people’s lives at the local level.
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... La iglesia de origen mexicano que se llama La Luz del Mundo fue clasificada como pentecostal, aunque no todos los especialistas estarían de acuerdo con esta ubicación. El término "evangélico" se utiliza con frecuencia en México por personas que no desean dar una adscripción exacta de su iglesia a desconocidos o inconversos (Dow y Sandstrom 2001;Garma 2004). ...
... Los ritos pentecostales de don de lenguas y sanación son atractivos para los creyentes que provienen de la religiosidad popular que destaca la creencia en milagros (Garma 1987;Dow 2005). También hay que destacar cómo el rechazo al alcoholismo y la violencia doméstica que con frecuencia lo acompaña, es muy atractivo para muchos sectores (Dow y Sandstrom 2001 Por último, mencionaremos qué implicaciones tiene esto para México, en cuanto a la conformación de un país pluralista y multicultural donde la diversidad religiosa es aceptada. En este sentido, la conformación de una cultura de tolerancia y apertura hacia las diferencias sociales es una meta necesaria para el futuro del país. ...
Die Sozialstrukturen in Lateinamerika haben sich in den letzten zwei Jahrzehnten stark verändert. Dieser einleitende Beitrag des Sammelbandes „Sozialstrukturen in Lateinamerika. Dynamiken und Akteure im 21. Jahrhundert“, der eine Art Follow-Up des Buches „Sozialstrukturen in Lateinamerika. Ein Überblick“ (herausgebracht 2008 im VS Verlag) ist, umreißt die im Buch anhand von vergleichenden und Fallstudien dargestellten sozialstrukturellen Entwicklungen. Der Beitrag beschreibt und diskutiert das dem Buch zu Grunde liegende Verständnis von Sozialstruktur und Sozialstrukturanalyse, thematisiert knapp die aus den konzeptionellen und begrifflichen Unterschieden resultierenden Schwierigkeiten bei der Übersetzung von Texten aus dem Spanischen und Englischen ins Deutsche und gibt einen Überblick über die Beiträge des Bandes.
Der Beitrag analysiert die Versuche der Regierungen in Argentinien, Bolivien, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela und Brasilien in den 2000er Jahren den ländlichen Raum zugunsten benachteiligter Sektoren und demokratisch umzugestalten. Die Bilanz fällt ernüchternd aus. Zwar gab es Verbesserungen bei den Lebens- und Arbeitsbedingungen auf dem Land, doch häufig unterstützten die Regierungen die großflächige Exportlandwirtschaft weiter. Die ländlichen sozialen Bewegungen und ihre basisdemokratischen Versuche wurden von den Mitte-Links-Regierungen politisch nicht gestärkt.
Bislang wurden Wechselwirkungen und Zusammenhänge zwischen religiösen Akteur*innen und der Sozialstruktur in Guatemala kaum untersucht. Dies gilt besonders für die Repräsentant*innen der dynamischsten und mitgliederstarken religiösen Akteur*innen, die Pfingst- und neopfingstlichen Kirchen. Dieser Artikel beschreibt, wie die Pfingst- und neopfingstlichen Kirchen dazu beitragen, den ethnischen, sozialen, wirtschaftlichen und politischen Status quo, der durch starke soziale Ungleichheiten gekennzeichnet ist, zu erhalten.
The revised third edition of the textbook, with a theme of gender and a new chapter on religion and health/medicine
In the fall of 2015, Jimmy Morales—an outspoken evangelical Christian, comedian, and well-known local TV actor—won the presidential elections in Guatemala. In what was a surprise victory, Morales succeeded as the candidate of the small, conservative, and right-wing Frente de Convergencia Nacional (FCN-Nación). This article seeks to (a) illuminate the Christian background and political-military network behind Jimmy Morales, (b) explain the overlap between the Christian evangelical and right-wing discourses (specifically, Morales’ anti-establishment rhetoric; his claims to fight the corrupt elite; his defense of the traditional family; his support for the death penalty; and his opposition to same-sex marriage, LGTBQ rights, and abortion), and (c) to understand the broader socio-historical context of his presidency. Why did Guatemalans elect as their president a right-wing, evangelical entertainer with almost no previous political experience? This final inquiry includes an examination of earlier presidencies, including those of the neo-Pentecostal, right-wing dictator General Efraín Ríos Montt and the Protestant President Jorge Serrano Elías.
The discussion centres mainly on two questions. The first, which is sociopolitical and cultural in nature, concerns whether it is really possible to build a multilingual and multicultural nation. It may be feasible, under plans to establish national states, to reconcile the forging of a national identity with the preservation of linguistic and cultural diversity. The second question, which is psycholinguistic and pedagogical, is concerned with the ways in which a second language is learned and the co-ordinated of conflicting use of two languages. What effects does learning a second language have on the development of the mother-tongue? What effects does the use of two languages have on the psychosocial identity of an individual.-from Author
This research article along with several others on the Zapotec of Oaxaca, Mexico, is based on immersed,intensive fieldwork and systematic data-gathering carried out in San Francisco Lachigoló, for a total period of 23 months over a period of 12 years of fieldwork. Support came from NIMH Fellowship, NIMH Research Grant, UCLA Faculty Grant, and UCLA Latin American Studies grant. The research focuses on structured domains of ritual and myth which are entwined in meaningful information on conceptual systems. Consistently El Guindi distinguishes construct, analytic framework, from concept, cultural ideas expressed by people to convey meaningful aspects of their societal and cultural systems, whether these concepts have obvious linguistic referents or not. Such concepts can be uncovered in anthroplogical analysis.
The significant contribution to anthropological theory grew out empirically and consists of a mediation theory to activate the binary structure, such as when local folk deal with their contradictory realities on the ground their logical system provides them with a category whose function is to mediate the binary structure. Significantly, out of this analysis there was the ethnographic discovery uncovered in my Zapotec research that the difference between Angelito and Difunto is determined by marriage (innocent/sinful) not be age (child/adult).
In a lecture in the anthropology department of the University of California, Berkeley, the late George Foster who was in the audience reacted strongly upon hearing this claim: “if you are right I will have to throw decades of my data”. He strongly disagreed. I stuck to my conclusions. My evidence is empirical and derives from systematic field data in the cotext of a theoretical framework. The data includes observational, interviewing, interactional and most importantly experimental scientific modes.
Note that at the time this article was published two terms I use were being regularly used in anthropology: one, "natives", is now undesirable due to political correctness and the term’s association with colonial vocabulary but was used in anthropology to refer to indigenous or local populations. The other term I used to use but stopped on analytic and theoretical grounds is "fictive” to refer to' compadrazgo' relations. I consider the term fictive to be inappropriate theoretically as there is nothing fictive about the category of kin that is non-procreative and non-marital. Recent primary research in Qatar on ‘suckling’ and the creation of a category of kin which becomes integral to overall kinship, added insights for better understanding of compadrazgo. I use now the term “incorporative” kin to refer to relations that are kinship but are neither procreative nor marital. This is so despite my conclusion that all kinship is incorporative, and is entwined with ritual. © 2016 El Guindi
This research note describes the characteristics of Protestants in El Salvador, examines the nature of their religious experiences, and explores the implications of their religion for political attitudes and behavior. It employs survey data collected in 1988 and 1989. It finds that although Salvadoran Protestants come from the rank of the poor, more Protestants vote than do the equally poor Salvadorans who are not affiliated with any religion. Thus Protestantism is not necessarily an electorally demobilizing experience. These findings help to place the "invasion of the sects' into perspective. The diffusion of Protestantism in El Salvador may be a cultural challenge, but it is not an overtly political one. Rather, Protestantism has provided a strategy for emotional husbandry and personal survival in one of the most difficult environments for the poor in this hemisphere. If so, it may not be truly "alien' to the Salvadoran experience. -from Authors
Little is known of the development of compadrazgo in Central Mexico following the Spanish conquest. This paper proposes that the widespread acceptance of compadrazgo was a response to immediate postconquest conditions in Central Mexico, where native social structures suffered enormous stress due to the conquest; compadrazgo provided an adaptive advantage for native societies. Other institutions, such as the gremio and cofradía, are also examined as adaptive mechanisms, but compadrazgo is seen to be the institution about which native cultures could best regroup. The redefinition of compadrazgo to fit conditions existing in Central Mexico at the time is examined. Cultural patterns existing in preconquest native society which facilitated the acceptance and diffusion of compadrazgo are discussed.
