"Religion" under Imperial Duress: Postcolonial Reflections and Proposals

Recent research on Hispanic Pentecostal congregations in Newark (NJ) brought to my attention how both realities and notions of "religion" are constructed under imperial duress (adopting and/or resisting racial, ethnic, class, gender, cultural, political, economic and religious biases deepl...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Maduro, Otto (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Springer 2004
In: Review of religious research
Year: 2004, Volume: 45, Issue: 3, Pages: 221-234
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Parallel Edition:Non-electronic
Description
Summary:Recent research on Hispanic Pentecostal congregations in Newark (NJ) brought to my attention how both realities and notions of "religion" are constructed under imperial duress (adopting and/or resisting racial, ethnic, class, gender, cultural, political, economic and religious biases deeply tied to imperial relations). In this essay, I try to stimulate reflection on how notions of "religion" in the U.S. are linked to U.S. imperial policies (including specific religious policies) developed over the last century toward, among others, our southern neighbors. Further, I suggest that those very imperial policies contribute to a deep disruption of life (religious and otherwise) in Latin America and the Caribbean. This dislocation is now impacting the U.S. with massive demographic, political and economic changes, as well as with major transformations in the ways in which religion is reconstructed, lived out, and understood by recent immigrants, as it happens in Latina/o Pentecostal congregations. After underscoring new forms of religious resistance to empire in these congregations, I close by proposing some ways of seeing "religion" that both critically acknowledge and responsibly attempt to overcome the ways in which certain understandings of "religion" have hitherto expressed and reinforced imperial views, relations and policies toward the least among us.
ISSN:2211-4866
Contains:Enthalten in: Review of religious research
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.2307/3512261