Latina/o Religion, Culture, and Society Unit and Religions in the Latina/o Americas Unit

‘Protesting Poverty’: Exploring the Legacy of Progressive Brazilian Christianity

In this co-sponsored session, the Latina/o Religion, Culture, and Society and the Religion in the Americas program units invite proposals that explore the sociopolitical relevance of Brazilian Protestantism by engaging Protesting Poverty: Protestants, Social Ethics, and the Poor in Brazil by Raimundo Barreto (Baylor Press, 2022). In this watershed publication, Barreto contends that “progressive Evangélicx Christianity, a branch of Brazilian Christianity that combines charismatic spirituality and sociopolitical progressive action, offers valuable sources for Christian social ethics in contemporary Brazil” (publisher’s description). This session welcomes proposals that consider the implications of Protesting Poverty for our understanding of Latinx and Latin American religions.  We seek submissions that explore the transnational dimensions and material implications of a progressive Brazilian Protestant social ethic. Panelists should seek to highlight how religious communities develop and deploy liberative practices, strategies or theories to contest global systems of exploitation.