This seminar analyzes the connections between religion, power, and politics in contemporary Latin America and the Caribbean. While the emphasis in our readings will be on varied forms of elite and popular Christianity, we shall discuss a range of religious experiences and traditions. Students will also be encouraged to pursue research topics of their own design. Topics to be considered include polemics concerning enlightenment rationality, secularism, atheism, agnosticism, and the persistence of religious belief in our contemporary world; right and left-wing “faith-based” political models in Latin America; the emergence of Liberation Theology and its intersection with resistance, rebellion, and revolution on the popular level; Afro-Atlantic spiritual beliefs and practices, and the history of Christian socialism and social reform.
- Teacher: James Krippner