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Book Description

Two unprecedented, striking developments form part of the reality of many Latin Americans. Recent decades have seen the dramatic rise of a new religious pluralism, namely the spread of Pentecostal Christianity - Catholic and Protestant alike - and the growth of indigenous revitalization movements. This study analyzes these major transitions, asking what roles ethnicity and ethnic identities play in the contemporary process of religious pluralism, such as the growth of the Protestant Pentecostal and neo-Pentecostal movements, the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, and the indigenous Maya movement in Guatemala.

This book aims to provide an understanding of the agenda of religious movements, their motivations, and their impact on society. Such a pursuit is urgently needed in Guatemala, a postwar country experiencing acrimonious religious competition and a highly contentious debate on religious pluralism. This volume is relevant to scholars and students of Latin American Studies, Sociology of Religion, Anthropology, Practical Theology, and Political Sciences.

Table of Contents

  1. Religion and Society
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Table of Contents
  5. Acknowledgements
  6. Preface
    1. Doing Fieldwork on Religion and Ethnicity
  7. Part I
    1. Religious Pluralism and Ethnicity in Guatemala:An Introduction
      1. The Religious Players
        1. Part I: Catholicism
        2. Part II: The Maya Movement
        3. Part III: Enthusiastic Christianity: Protestant and Catholic Pentecostalism
      2. Ethnicity and Pentecostal Christianity
      3. The Guatemalan Social Structure: Ethnicity and EthnicIdentities in Guatemala
      4. Theoretical and Methodological Considerations
        1. Existing Theories
        2. Globalization Theories
        3. Religion as a Supermarket? Rational-Choice and Microeconomic Theories
        4. Methodology and Methods of this Study
      5. Book Structure and Overview
  8. Part II
    1. Catholicism, Religious Pluralism, and the EthnicDivide
      1. Introduction to Catholicism and Ethnicity
        1. Chapter Overview
      2. The Catholic Bureaucracy: Structure and Features ofGuatemalan Catholicism
        1. Indigenous Priests in the Catholic Church
      3. Catholicism in Guatemala: Looking Back at the History ofReligious Pluralism and the Ethnic Divide (1524 – 1944)
        1. The Conquest and Colonialism (1524 – 1824)
        2. The Post-Independence Period: The Fall of Catholicism and the Rise ofProtestantism
      4. Mayan Catholicism: The Cofradías
        1. The Decline of the Cofradías
        2. Revival of the Cofradías?
      5. The Formation of an Indigenous Activism and the Role ofCatholic Networks and Ideologies: From the 1950s to the 1970s
        1. Catholicism and the Political Environment of the 1950s and 1960s
        2. Catholicism, Catholic Action and the Mayas
        3. Cultural and Educational Initiatives
        4. Political Initiatives
        5. Agricultural Initiatives: Cooperatives, Ligas Campesinas, and the Comité deUnidad Campesina (CUC)
      6. Catholicism, Indigenous Activism, and the Insurgency: 1978Onward
        1. Ideological Factors and Mayan Exclusion
        2. Catholic Networks and the Armed Confrontation
      7. The Catholic Church in the mid-1980s and 1990s
        1. The Popular Front, the Human Rights Agenda of the Catholic Church, and theEmergence of the Maya Movement
      8. The Catholic Church and the Ethnic Agenda
        1. Theory and Practice
        2. The Popol Vuh: Myth and Revitalization of the Indigenous Culture within theCatholic Church
        3. Mayan Culture and Spirituality and the Training of Catechists Today
        4. The Pastoral Indígena
        5. The Pastoral Indígena in San Marcos
        6. The Maya Movement and the Pastoral Indígena
      9. Diversification of Catholicism: The Catholic CharismaticRenewal in Guatemala
        1. The Historic Roots of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal
        2. The Guatemalan Catholic Charismatic Renewal
        3. The Contemporary Presence of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Guatemala
        4. The Catholic Charismatic Renewal and Religious Pluralism
        5. The Catholic Charismatic Renewal and Mayan Culture
        6. Theological Profile and Religious Empowerment
        7. Healing, Exorcism, and Popular Religion
        8. The Guatemalan Church Hierarchy and the Catholic Charismatic Renewal
        9. The Charismatic Renewal in Concepción Tutuapa
        10. History and Religious Characteristics of the Municipality and the Parish
        11. The Situation in the Parish Today
        12. From Rejection to Acceptance: The Relationship between the Parish,Charismatic Catholics, Catechists, and the Diocese
      10. Summary
  9. Part III
    1. The Guatemalan Maya Movement:Ethnicity and the Transformation of the ReligiousSphere
      1. Introduction
      2. Factors that Contributed to a New Ethnic-Religious Agenda:Rigoberta Menchú and the Peace Process
      3. The Maya Movement and Its Religious Discourse
        1. Syncretism, Hybrid Identities, and Resistance within the Indigenous MayanCulture
        2. The New Mayan Priests
      4. Mayan Spirituality in Comitancillo
        1. The Decline of Traditional Mayan Spirituality in Comitancillo
        2. The Social Effects of Essentialism: Conflicts over Meaning at the Local Level
        3. The New Mayan Ceremonies
      5. Summary
  10. Part IV
    1. Protestantism, Religious Pluralism, and the EthnicDivide: An Introduction
      1. Explaining Religious Pluralism and Protestant Growth inGuatemala: An Overview
      2. The Distribution of Protestantism in the Indigenous andnon-Indigenous Population
      3. Overlapping Terms and Doctrines: Pentecostalism,Neo-Pentecostalism, Charismatic Movement, Evangelicalism,and Fundamentalism
      4. Pentecostalism in Guatemala
        1. Doctrine and Historical Origins of Pentecostalism
        2. Pentecostalism and the Rejection of Mayan Spirituality and Culture
        3. Racial Exclusion and Pentecostalism
        4. Organizational Structures: Kin and Family
        5. Pentecostalism and Ethnic Homogeneity
        6. The Case of Fermín Cuyuch: Conversion and Ethnic Mobility
        7. Conversion of Mayans to Pentecostalism: A Religious and EthnicEmpowerment?
        8. Symbolic and Real Power: Conversion and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
      5. Neo-Pentecostalism in Guatemala
        1. Doctrinal and Historical Roots of Neo-Pentecostalism
        2. Iglesias de Fufurufus? – Churches of the Rich? Class and Ethnicity inneo-Pentecostal Congregations
        3. Spiritual Army, Religious Enterprise, and Charismatic Apostles: OrganizationalFeatures of neo-Pentecostalism
        4. The New Apostles and Ethnicity
        5. Spiritual Warfare and the Negation of Mayan Culture in neo-PentecostalDoctrine
        6. A Side Note on Neo-Pentecostalism and Political Activism
        7. Civil War, Democratization, Reconciliation, and neo-Pentecostal Doctrine
      6. The Development of Religious Pluralism in an IndigenousMunicipio: The Case of Comitancillo
        1. Religious Pluralism and Ethnicity in Comitancillo
        2. Religious Pluralism from an Individual Perspective: The Biography of CidiacoTemaj (Iglesia del Nazareno)
      7. Summary
        1. Pentecostalism and Ethnicity
        2. Neo-Pentecostalism and Ethnicity
  11. Part V
    1. Conclusion Divided by Faith and Ethnicity: TheRelational Dynamic of Religious Pluralism and theEthnic Status Quo
      1. Catholicism and Ethnicity in Guatemala
        1. Colonialism, Catholicism, and the Maya
        2. Guatemalan Twentieth-Century Catholicism and the Maya
        3. The Catholic Hierarchy and the Ethnic Agenda at the End of the TwentiethCentury
        4. Pastoral Indígena, Popul Vuh, and Training of the Laity
        5. The Catholic Charismatic Renewal
        6. Mayan Catechists and the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR)
        7. Catholic Charismatic Renewal Doctrine and Mayan Culture
      2. The Maya Movement
        1. On the Reconfiguration of Ethnic and Religious Identities and the Social Effectsof Essentialism
      3. Protestantism and Ethnicity in Guatemala
        1. Mayan Pentecostalism and Ethnicity
        2. Neo-Pentecostalism and Ethnicity
  12. Bibliography
    1. Primary Sources
      1. Interviews
      2. Holiness, Pentecostal and neo-Pentecostal Services
      3. Mayan Ceremonies
      4. Email Correspondence
      5. Unpublished Documents, Pamphlets, Privately Published Materials, andMiscellaneous Materials
      6. Newspapers and Other Media
    2. Secondary Sources
  13. Index