Religion and Social Change at the Grass Roots in Latin America
Author(s)
Escobar, J. Samuel
Abstract
Recent historiography and social studies in Latin America have developed new approaches to understanding the significance of movements by the poor for social change as well as the role of religion as a key factor for social mobilization. It is now possible to perceive the importance of messianic and revolutionary movements since the colonial period, and also the different forms of religious commitment that motivate people to reject modernization or to accept it. Several case studies coming from Catholicism and Protestantism are considered here.