CATECHISTS AT THE CROSSROADS: NEO-CATHOLICISM, NEOLIBERALISM AND THE SHIFTING SOCIOPOLITICAL LANDSCAPE OF AYMARA LIFE

This article examines the intersection of religious and sociopoliticalreform in contemporary highlands Bolivia. The case at issue is an Aymararegion, where the institutions, personnel and practices of Catholicism havelong been crucial to the production of local society. Over the lastdecades of the 2...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Politikologija religije 2008, Vol.2 (2), p.99-120
Main Author: Orta, Andrew
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
20th century
Catholicism
Catholics
Decentralization
Empowerment
Local government
Neoliberalism
Political change
Reforms
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Summary:This article examines the intersection of religious and sociopoliticalreform in contemporary highlands Bolivia. The case at issue is an Aymararegion, where the institutions, personnel and practices of Catholicism havelong been crucial to the production of local society. Over the lastdecades of the 20th century, a series of pastoral strategies initiated bythe Church have sought to localize Catholic practices through theempowerment of community-level catechists and, more recently, efforts toreclaim elements of Aymara culture as expressions of Catholicmeaning. These pastoral developments have overlapped with a set ofneoliberal political reforms aimed at decentralizing administrativepractices through the creation and empowerment of municipalities at thelocal level. I focus here on the experiences of one catechist to examinethe ways his career as a local agent of missionary Catholicism entangledhim directly within the sociopolitical processes being tested and stretchedby these neoliberal reforms.
ISSN:1820-6581
1820-659X
DOI:10.54561/prj0202099o