God, Virtue and Politics: Inequality & Social Justice in Latin America
WORKSHOP organised by the CLACSO-CROP Programme, Institute of Latin American Studies, Stockholm University, in collaboration with UiB Global & the Department of Comparative Politics, University of Bergen; and NORLARNET.
This event was divided in two differents activities. First, there was a public meeting with presentations by Emilce Cuda, from Argentina, and Genaro Zalpa. They contributed with their lectures "Religion and Democracy: Facing Inequality in Latin America" and "Religions and Poverty in Latin America: Ethics, Ethos, and Practices" in front of a very engaged audience. Rikard Lalander from the Institute of Latin American studies moderated the meeting.
After this public meeting, a workshop was held related with the seminars in Bergen and Oslo. Presentations included: “Pentecostalism as a Basis for Transformation of the Individual, the Family, and Society" by Geir Aasmundsen, CMI/Södertörn University College, Sweden; “Religion and Politics in Nicaragua: What Difference Does a Revolution Make?" by Einar Berntzen, Department of Comparative Politic s, University of Bergen, Norway; “A Public Pastoral Response to the Political Violence in Peru 1980-2000" by Olle Kristenson, Church of Sweden/PhD in Mission Studies, Faculty of Theology, University of Uppsala, Sweden; “Religious Change and Social Inequality in Guatemala and Brazil" by Veronica Melander, Sida/PhD in Religious Studies, Faculty of Theology, University of Uppsala, Sweden; “Acquiring Indigenous Citizenship: The Political Agency of Maya Catholics in Highland Chiapas, Mexico" by Heidi Moksnes, Uppsala Centre for Sustainable Development, Uppsala University, Sweden and “Pastoral Action and Politics for the Poor: Being Church for the Voiceless", by Hans Egil Offerdal, UiB Global/CLACSO-CROP, Norway.
The CLACSO-CROP programme is currently in contact with Scandinavian colleagues to organize a follow up meeting in Argentina. The objective of this meeting will be to continue the research on the role of religion in development, particularly in a Latin American context. The research team is especially interested in the ambiguous role that religion plays in the fight against poverty or, in some cases, the (unintended) role of religion in order to prevent any meaningful change for the poor. Here, the relations to economic development (both positive and negative) as well as convergent work with secular actors in favor of human rights and conflict resolution, is also addressed.
