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"For over four centuries the Catholic Church enjoyed a religious monopoly in Latin America in which potential rivals were repressed or outlawed. Latin Americans were born Catholic and the only real choice they had was whether to actively practice the faith. Taking advantage of the legal disestablishment of the Catholic Church between the late 1800s and the early 1900s, Pentecostals almost single-handedly built a new pluralist religious economy. By the 1950s, many Latin Americans were free to choose from among the hundreds of available religious "products," a dizzying array of religious options that range from the African-Brazilian religion of Umbanda to the New Age group known as the Vegetable Union."
"R. Andrew Chesnut shows how the development of religious pluralism over the past half-century has radically transformed the "spiritual economy" of Latin America. In order to thrive in this new religious economy, says Chesnut, Latin American spiritual "firms" must develop an attractive product and know how to market it to popular consumers. Three religious groups, he demonstrates, have proven to be the most skilled competitors in the new unregulated religious economy. Protestant Pentecostalism, the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, and African diaspora religions such as Brazilian Candomble and Haitian Vodou have emerged as the most profitable religious producers.
Chesnut explores the general effects of a free market, such as introduction of consumer taste and product specialization, and shows how they have played out in the Latin American context. He notes, for example, that women make up the majority of the religious consumer market, and explores how the three groups have developed to satisfy women's tastes and preferences. Moving beyond the Pentecostal boom and the rise and fall of liberation theology, Chesnut provides a fascinating portrait of the Latin American religious landscape."--Jacket.
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1
Competitive Spirits: Latin America's New Religious Economy
March 27, 2007, Oxford University Press, USA
in English
0195314867 9780195314861
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2
Competitive Spirits: Latin America's New Religious Economy
July 12, 2003, Oxford University Press, USA
in English
019516184X 9780195161847
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3
Competitive Spirits: Latin America's New Religious Economy
2003, Oxford University Press
in English
1280532750 9781280532757
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Competitive Spirits: Latin America's New Religious Economy
2003, Oxford University Press, Incorporated
in English
0195343697 9780195343694
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Book Details
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"Latin America's religious revolution continues to radically transform the spiritual economy of the most Catholic region in the world."
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- Created April 29, 2008
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