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Abstract

When the secular institutional regime was built in Uruguay, the French model served as a reference. Its developments since the beginning of the 20th century, however, proved to be yet more radical than its French counterpart. This article focuses on the characteristics of Uruguayan secularism, with a closer look at its political and cultural meaning.We analyse the process which led to the institutional separation between the Catholic Church and the State in 1917, as well as the process of secularization of the Uruguayan society. We finally conclude by a presentation of how Uruguayan secularism is nowaday challenged.
Archives de sciences sociales
des religions
146 (avril-juin 2009)
Les laïcités dans les Amériques
................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Néstor DaCosta
La laicidad uruguaya
................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
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Référence électronique
Néstor DaCosta, «La laicidad uruguaya», Archives de sciences sociales des religions [En ligne], 146|avril-juin
2009, mis en ligne le 29 novembre 2013, consulté le 04 décembre 2013. URL: http://assr.revues.org/21270; DOI:
10.4000/assr.21270
Éditeur : Éditions de l'École des hautes études en sciences sociales
http://assr.revues.org
http://www.revues.org
Document accessible en ligne sur : http://assr.revues.org/21270
Ce document est le fac-similé de l'édition papier.
Archives de sciences sociales des religions
  


         
   
 

  
  

 
    
  
    
  
   
   
   
    
     
        

  
           
   

    
    
     
           
   
     
     
    
         
    
  
  
     
            
             
              
            
          
            
              
             
           
          
        
       
            
            
             
            
 
            
               
            
 
        
               
         
           
                
             
            
            
           
             
            
             
            
            
             
     
       
... Exceptions include Uruguay, Chile, and Cuba, as these countries have had successful anti-clerical or laic movements and because their legal systems have long reflected a clear separation of Church and State. Moreover, these three countries have never signed a concordat with the Roman Church-State (Da Costa, 2009;Ramírez, 2009;Salinas, 2013 Concordats are international treaties between the Roman See (the so-called "Holy" See) and the states. In the past, concordats have been criticised as mutual concessions of privileges between Church and State. ...
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This chapter characterises the relations between religion, institutions, and the transparency–prosperity nexus. It explains how economic prosperity, democracy, and transparency are part of a feedback loop that constitutes a single phenomenon. More importantly, this chapter deepens the institutional analysis by concentrating on the particular historical influence of religion on the different legal traditions in Europe and the Americas. It is the cornerstone of Part 3 and, as such, of the entire book. The Reformation brought forth a wide range of modern institutions. Among these, education and democracy are the most crucial ones for ensuring prosperity/transparency outcomes. Likewise, Protestantism has impacted the secularisation of the state in Protestant countries (and also in Roman Catholics, albeit to a lesser, more indirect extent). Protestantism fosters horizontal power relations and secular-rational attitudes towards authority. Thus, such egalitarian and secular attitudes are linked to greater transparency and prosperity. The Lutheran German Revolution formed the basis of the various later Protestant, dissenting revolutions and legal traditions (i.e. British and American). Some of its concepts (e.g. separation of state functions from the church; state-sponsored education) permeate all modern legal systems to this day and ended the monopoly of Roman canon law. Regardless of the advances made by Roman Catholicism in the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II: 1962–1965), corporatist ideologies remain prevalent, mostly in Latin America. But while Roman Catholic discourse has shifted, the institutional inertia persists and maintains the hierarchical status quo and longstanding feudal structures.
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Since the return of democracy, Latin America has experienced a series of important transformations. The first, were economic and were mainly characterized by a big wave of economic liberalization that meant, among other things, a fluctuating exchange rate, curs in public spending, the privatization of public organizations and services that ended up considerably reducing the role of the State. The second, were politics and were marked by the arrival of left-wing parties to power and the implementation of a series of social policies aimed at reducing poverty and inequality that allowed to significantly improved millions of Latin Americans’ life conditions. All those experiences, plus the frequent alternance between authoritarianism and democracy in recent years, have inevitably had an effect on the trust that individuals have in institutions. Therefore, how has the level of institutional trust evolved in Latin America in recent years? Specifically, how has the alternance in power of left and right parties that have governed in Latin America during the last thirty years, had an impact on the levels of trust that Latin Americans have in their institutions? Through a longitudinal multilevel statistical model of repeated measures, this research aims, first, at understanding the historical evolution of the level of institutional trust in Latin America between 1995 and 2021, from the combination of data included in the surveys carried out by Latinobarómetro, LAPOP and the World Values Survey (WVS), and secondly, to estimate the impact of the ideological orientation of individuals and of the ruling parties on the level of institutional trust. The results show that when the ruling party is from the left, the average level of trust towards the institutions is significantly higher. They also show that trust in institutions is positively reinforced in those people who declare that they have the same orientation as the ruling party. Therefore, the evolution of institutional trust in Latin America is explained in part by the ideological orientation of individuals and the party in power.
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Dans les sociétés latino-américaines contemporaines, il est possible de trouver des débats autour de sujets sociaux tels que le mariage gay, l’avortement ou l’euthanasie. Ils font surgir à nouveau dans les discours des concepts tels que laïcité et sécularisation. Malheureusement dans les réalités du sous-continent, ces concepts sont la plupart de temps employés avec tort et même parfois comme des synonymes. Un autre concept qui est revenu au discours des certains politiciens est celui de l’anticléricalisme. Dans de pays comme le Mexique, l’Argentine, le Chili et l’Uruguay, on trouve des débats assez passionnels mais parfois peu étayés. Nous proposons, à partir d’une explication rapide et facile, de donner à comprendre ces trois concepts et leurs différences.
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Secularisation and religiosity in Uruguay are closer to Western European levels than to Latin American averages. The idea of medieval “Christendom” inherited from Hispanic times became obsolete and residual in Uruguay already during the nineteenth century (which is early compared to the rest of Latin America). Uruguay closely followed the laïcité model of the French Revolution without ever completely replicating it. This process resulted in the widespread secularisation of institutional fields, displaced religion to the domestic sphere, and guaranteed the freedom of consciousness and religion. In Uruguay, as well as in Switzerland, Protestantism has played a crucial role along with liberalism in introducing anti-clericalism (and religious freedom) in its constitution and therefore also in its institutions. Protestantism, then, has played a decisive role in shaping the trajectory of democracy, human capital, ethics, transparency, secularisation, and social progress.
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This chapter contains the meso component (Qualitative Comparative Analysis, QCA). It discusses the QCA research model, the QCA methodology, and the analysis of the QCA results. QCA is used to analyse both quantitative and qualitative data, thus enabling causal inferences. However, QCA is not a statistical technique that focuses on the likelihood of the relations among variables. Instead, it is a method based on Boolean logic, rooted in set theory, and founded on the notions of sufficiency, the necessity of conditions, and conjunctural causation. QCA results indicate, among others, that for high competitiveness , high EPI suffices if Concordats with the Vatican are low and if the Roman Catholic and Orthodox population is low. No State Religion positively affects competitiveness . Having Concordats with the Vatican negatively influences competitiveness. Additionally, factors like German, English, and Scandinavian legal origin help to increase competitiveness. Oppositely, QCA results for high corruption indicate that Concordats in combination with Roman Catholic religion adherence increase corruption. Orthodox religion has a similar negative effect. Most countries with high corruption are of French legal origin and have high Concordats . This trend is robust. Colombia and Switzerland (the two extreme cases) exhibited several consistent QCA results. The other two cases (Cuba and Uruguay) only revealed one or two consistent outcomes.
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Este artículo tiene por objetivo hacer una propuesta teórica sobre la relación entre la categoría de identidad en el pensamiento político posfundacional y los estudios culturales/fronterizos, con el propósito de complejizar y profundizar el análisis de la intrínseca dimensión política de los procesos de identificación religiosa. Como marco general de aplicación, indagaremos sobre las propuestas de replanteamiento en América Latina en torno a la noción de (pos)seculatización, como un modo de visibilizar cómo la idea de pluralidad y diversidad religiosa no sólo advierten una descripción de campo sino también una lectura ontológico-político de la inscripción de lo religioso en el espacio público.
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Resumen En este trabajo se pretende mostrar e intentar categorizar los distintos testimonios de vida brindados por creyentes evangélicos conversos. En la ciudad de Montevideo se entrevistaron, a través del enfoque teórico-metodológico de la religiosidad vivida (lived religion), a 11 personas que en algún punto de su vida se convirtieron al evangelismo y que - en algún momento de la entrevista - compartieron estas historias de conversión y de-conversión, en general atravesadas por puntos de inflexión, cambios de vida y de un “antes y después” del cristianismo. Se busca también ver el potencial del acto de dar testimonio de este cambio de vida, no sólo como una herramienta para captar posibles conversos sino también como un medio por el cual se refuerzan las nuevas identidades religiosas a nivel personal y grupal en sus vidas cotidianas. Como principales resultados, se destacan, por un lado, el encontrar en las narrativas de los sujetos dos motivos principales por los cuales se produce la conversión o revinculación, así como otros elementos destacados por formar parte del proceso de reforzamiento del vínculo con su Iglesia y sus nuevas identidades religiosas. Por el otro, se encuentra que el acto de dar testimonio funciona efectivamente como un recurso positivo de validación para los creyentes.
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The diaspora of the Afro-Brazilian religions has produced a series of new experiences which are intensified with the articulation of different symbolic and cultural elements. In this article, I explore the configuration of an Afro-Brazilian temple in Barcelona (Spain) that is presented as “syncretistic shamanism.” In an interview with the Uruguayan pai de santo who founded this temple, I seek to understand how this “house of religion” operates in different logics.
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During its expansion from the Amazon jungle to Western societies, ayahuasca use has encountered different legal and cultural responses. Following on from the earlier edited collection, The Expanding World Ayahuasca Diaspora continues to explore how certain alternative global religious groups, shamanic tourism industries, and recreational drug milieus grounded in the consumption of the traditionally Amazonian psychoactive drink ayahuasca embody various challenges associated with modern societies. Each contributor explores the symbolic effects of a "bureaucratization of enchantment" in religious practice and the "sanitizing" of indigenous rituals for tourist markets. Chapters include ethnographic investigations of ritual practice, transnational religious ideology, the politics of healing, and the invention of tradition. Larger questions on the commodification of ayahuasca and the categories of sacred and profane are also addressed. Exploring classic and contemporary issues in social science and the humanities, this book provides rich material on the bourgeoning expansion of ayahuasca use around the globe. As such, it will appeal to students and academics in religious
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From the beginning, social scientists have celebrated the secularization thesis despite the fact that it never was consistent with empirical reality. More than 150 years ago Toajuen'lle pointed out that "the facts by no means accord with [the secularization] theory," and this lack of accord has grown far worse since then. Indeed, the only shred of credibility for the notion that secularization has been taking place has depended on contrasts between now and a bygone Age of Faith. In this essay 1 assemble the work of many recent historians who are unanimous that the Age of Faith is pure nostalgia -that lack of religious participation was, if anything, even more widespread in medieval times than now. Next, 1 demonstrate that there have been no recent religious changes in Christendom that are consistent with the secularization thesis -not even among scientists. I also expand assessment of the secularization doctrine to non-Christian societies showing that not even the highly magical "folk religions" in Asia have shown the slightest declines in response to quite rapid modernization. Final words are offered as secularization is laid to rest.
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