Author: Edited by Anna L. Peterson, Manuel A. Vsquez, and Philip J. Williams
Subject: Sociology/Religion/Latin American Studies
Paper ISBN 0-8135-2932-8
Cloth ISBN 0-8135-2931-X
Pages: 272 pp.
Description: An examination of the ways different religious communities in the Americas interpret and respond to globalization

"A valuable collection addressing important issues in the study of religion and society in a timely, engaging, and highly readable form. The book stands out for the sharpness of the work on women and the family and the freshness of the presentation on transnational groups."-Daniel H. Levine, author of Popular Voices in Latin American Catholicism

"This book masterfully combines rich field research on Christian-based communities in the Americas with an original and innovative comparative analysis of the religious expressions by local communities."-Pedro Caban, Puerto Rican and Hispanic Caribbean Studies, Rutgers University

This volume resulted from a collaborative research project into responses of Protestant and Catholic religious communities in the Americas to the challenges of globalization. Contributors from the fields of religion, anthropology, political science, and sociology draw on fieldwork in Peru, El Salvador, and the United States to show the interplay of economic globalization, migration, and growing religious pluralism in Latin America.

Organized around three central themes-family, youth, and community; democratization, citizenship, and political participation; and immigration and transnationalism-the book argues that, at the local level, religion helps people, especially women and youths, solidify their identities and confront the challenges of the modern world. Religious communities are seen as both peaceful venues for people to articulate their needs, and forums for building participatory democracies in the Americas. Finally, the contributors examine how religion enfranchises poor women, youths, and people displaced by war or economic change and, at the same time, drives social movements that seek to strengthen family and community bonds disrupted by migration and political violence.

Anna L. Peterson is an associate professor of religion at the University of Florida and the author of Martyrdom and the Politics of Religion. Manuel Vsquez is an associate professor of religion at the University of Florida and the author of The Brazilian Popular Church and the Crisis of Modernity. Philip J. Williams is professor of political science at the University of Florida and author of The Catholic Church and Politics in Nicaragua and Costa Rica.