Revolutions of the Saints: The Politics of Religion in Latin America’s Long Cold War: Panel II

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

Religion, religiosity and religious actors were ubiquitous forces throughout the 20th century in Latin America, particularly in what Greg Grandin and others refer to as the “Long Cold War.” Many of the protagonists of this period were, missionaries, activists, conservative intellectuals and revolutionary leaders that framed their understanding of their context and of the possibilities for its transformation in religious terms. They served as interpreters, critics, mobilizers and protagonists of Latin America’s political experience, very often in connection those of other nations and regions. Thus, from a perspective that incorporates the national and the transnational, the study of religion and religiosity in Latin America brings to the fore the transnational exchange of ideas between religious and political actors, the importance of the church as an institution and a source of important philosophical debate, and the relevance of religious beliefs and practice in the way actors make sense of the world and its conflicts.
This double panel proposes a dialogue about the role of religion, religious actors, institutions, practices and beliefs in the politics of utopia, revolution, counterrevolution and human rights in this period. The presenters offer analyses of how religion might have worked as both the framing and the content of political projects, how it shaped the interactions between state and church institutions and populations, and how these processes responded to or were a product of both national and transnational concerns and debates. The presenters in panel one examine these issues from the perspective of Catholic movements associated with conservatism that had long-term influence in Latin America, but received less attention from researchers. The presenters in panel two analyze the issues from the perspective of Catholic developmentalist projects associated with progressivism. They highlight the ways in that these projects were linked inextricably with government-sponsored programs thereby complicating the idea of what was “progressive”.

Sub Track

• Religions and Spiritualities

Session Organizer

• Susan R Fitzpatrick Behrens, California State University

Individual Presentations

• “From Good Neighbors to Allies for Progress: US Catholic intersections with US Foreign Policy in Latin America and its Influence in Guatemala (1933 – 1970s)” - Susan R Fitzpatrick Behrens, California State University

• “Cold War Parable: Radio Sutatenza, Accion Cultural Popular, and the Politics of Religion and Rural Development in Colombia (1950s-1970s)” - Mary Roldán, Hunter College/CUNY Graduate Center

• Canada/Latin America: Catholic Networks and Communitarian Paths – Co-operativism, Community Development, and Christian Base Communities, 1940s-1970s. - Catherine C LeGrand, McGill University

Discussant

• Iwa Nawrocki