Artículo
Devotions, promises and miracles : how religious beliefs and practices support poor people´s agency in Latin American
Registro en:
1475-5629 (online)
1475-5610 (impreso)
10.1080/14755610.2022.2089186
Autor
Suárez, Ana Lourdes
López Fidanza, Juan Martín
Institución
Resumen
Abstract: The article addresses Latin American poor people's religious beliefs and practices,
analysing particularly three of them: devotion, promise, and miracle. We argue
that these three religious features are related to people’s agency and can have
impact on personal and community wellbeing. The data that support the analysis
come from a case study in Buenos Aires based on two sources: 1. A questionnaire
applied to a representative sample of Buenos Aires slum inhabitants. 2. In-depth
interviews of women living in poor settlements. The theoretical discussions link
the concept of popular religiosity as it is being addressed in Latin America, with
approaches that stress on agency. The main argument is that the bodily, emotional,
and relational aspects of religion, framed within a cosmological and holistic
cultural matrix, shape poor people’s agency with positive outcomes.