«Neo-Pentecostalism» in Brazil: Problems of Definition and the Struggle for Hegemony / Néo-pentecôtisme brésilien : problèmes de définition et luttes de pouvoir - article ; n°1 ; vol.105, pg 145-162

Paul Freston.

Description

Archives des sciences sociales des religions - Année 1999 - Volume 105 - Numéro 1 - Pages 145-162
L'article s'intéresse à deux aspects du néo-pentecôtisme brésilien. L'auteur rappelle d'abord les typologies qui ont été proposées du pentecôtisme brésilien (le plus important du monde et qui représente 10% de la population du pays) et le débat que ces typologies ont suscité. Il conclut ce point en affirmant que toutes les typologies actuelles (y compris celles qui font état du néo-pentecôtisme) sont problématiques. Faute d'une véritable recherche historique sur le pentecôtisme brésilien, certaines de ses caractéristiques pré-existantes sont parfois perçues, à tort, comme nouvelles. Aussi, l'auteur propose-t-il de considérer l'histoire des principales Eglises pentecôtistes du Brésil en termes de vagues de création institutionnelle. Chacune de ces vagues actualise le rapport du pentecôtisme à la culture et s'impose, dans une relation dynamique, aux vagues précédentes. L'article s'intéresse ensuite aux efforts entrepris par la plus grande Eglise pentecôtiste du Brésil, l'Eglise Universelle du Royaume de Dieu, pour imposer son hégémonie sur ensemble du champ protestant brésilien : en exploitant sa propre richesse, par le biais de son empire médiatique et de son pouvoir politique, et par sa confrontation avec l'Association Evangélique du Brésil dont le président était le principal critique de l'Eglise Universelle
The article looks at two aspects of so-called neo-pentecostalism in Brazil. Firstly, it reviews the debate over typologies of the Brazilian pentecostal field (which is the largest in the world and 10% of the population), concluding that all existing solutions (including those that talk of neo-pentecostalism are problematic). Lack of historical research on Brazilian pentecostalism means characteristics which have appeared previously are sometimes regarded as new. The author's proposal is to view the history of the main Brazilian pentecostal churches in terms of waves of institutional creation, each wave updating pentecostalism's relationship to culture, while being superimposed on and in dynamic relation to the previous ones. Secondly, the article looks at the efforts of the most important neo-pentecostal church in Brazil, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, to establish hegemony over the Brazilian Protestant field as a whole, through the use of its wealth, its media empire and its political power, and through a confrontation with the Brazilian Evangelical Association, whose president has been the UCKG's greatest critic.
18 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Archives-des-sciences-sociales-des-religions
• Publié le: 01 janvier 1999
• Nombre de lectures: 70
• Langue: Español
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Paul Freston
«Neo-Pentecostalism» in Brazil: Problems of Definition and the
Struggle for Hegemony / Néo-pentecôtisme brésilien :
problèmes de définition et luttes de pouvoir
In: Archives des sciences sociales des religions. N. 105, 1999. pp. 145-162.
Citer ce document / Cite this document :
Freston Paul. «Neo-Pentecostalism» in Brazil: Problems of Definition and the Struggle for Hegemony / Néo-pentecôtisme
brésilien : problèmes de définition et luttes de pouvoir. In: Archives des sciences sociales des religions. N. 105, 1999. pp. 145-
162.
doi : 10.3406/assr.1999.1082
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/assr_0335-5985_1999_num_105_1_1082Resumen
El artículo examina dos aspectos del dicho « neo-pentecostalismo » en Brasil. En primer lugar, revisa el
debate sobre las tipologías del campo pentecostal brasileño (el mas grande del mundo y 10% de la
población), concluyendo que todas las soluciones existentes (incluso las que hablan de « neo-
pentecostalismo ») son problemáticas.
La falta de investigación histórica sobre el pentecostalismo brasileño hace con que ciertas
características ya antiguas sean vistas como nuevas. La propuesta del autor es de ver la historia de las
principales iglesias pentecostales brasileñas como « olas » de creación institucional, cada ola
actualizando la relación del pentecostalismo con la cultura, estando sobrepuesta y en relación dinámica
con las anteriores.
En segundo lugar, el artículo mira los esfuerzos de la mas importante iglesia « neo-pentecostal » en
Brasil, la Iglesia Universal del Reino de Dios, de establecer una hegemonía sobre el campo protestante
brasileño, a través del uso de sus recursos económicos, su imperio en los medios de comunicación y
su poder político, y por medio de la confrontación con la Asociación Evangélica Brasileña, cuyo
presidente ha sido el mayor critico de la IURD.
Résumé
L'article s'intéresse à deux aspects du "néo-pentecôtisme" brésilien. L'auteur rappelle d'abord les
typologies qui ont été proposées du pentecôtisme brésilien (le plus important du monde et qui
représente 10% de la population du pays) et le débat que ces typologies ont suscité. Il conclut ce point
en affirmant que toutes les typologies actuelles (y compris celles qui font état du "néo-pentecôtisme")
sont problématiques.
Faute d'une véritable recherche historique sur le pentecôtisme brésilien, certaines de ses
caractéristiques pré-existantes sont parfois perçues, à tort, comme nouvelles. Aussi, l'auteur propose-t-
il de considérer l'histoire des principales Eglises pentecôtistes du Brésil en termes de "vagues" de
création institutionnelle. Chacune de ces vagues actualise le rapport du pentecôtisme à la culture et
s'impose, dans une relation dynamique, aux vagues précédentes.
L'article s'intéresse ensuite aux efforts entrepris par la plus grande Eglise pentecôtiste du Brésil, l'Eglise
Universelle du Royaume de Dieu, pour imposer son hégémonie sur ensemble du champ protestant
brésilien : en exploitant sa propre richesse, par le biais de son empire médiatique et de son pouvoir
politique, et par sa confrontation avec l'Association Evangélique du Brésil dont le président était le
principal critique de l'Eglise Universelle
Abstract
The article looks at two aspects of so-called "neo-pentecostalism" in Brazil. Firstly, it reviews the debate
over typologies of the Brazilian pentecostal field (which is the largest in the world and 10% of the
population), concluding that all existing solutions (including those that talk of "neo-pentecostalism" are
problematic). Lack of historical research on Brazilian pentecostalism means characteristics which have
appeared previously are sometimes regarded as new. The author's proposal is to view the history of the
main Brazilian pentecostal churches in terms of "waves" of institutional creation, each wave updating
pentecostalism's relationship to culture, while being superimposed on and in dynamic relation to the
previous ones. Secondly, the article looks at the efforts of the most important "neo-pentecostal" church
in Brazil, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, to establish hegemony over the Brazilian
Protestant field as a whole, through the use of its wealth, its media empire and its political power, and
through a confrontation with the Brazilian Evangelical Association, whose president has been the
UCKG's greatest critic.Arch de Sc soc des Rel. 1999 05 Janvier-mars 145-162
Paul PRESTON
NEO-PENTECOSTALISM IN BRAZIL
PROBLEMS OF DEFINITION AND THE STRUGGLE
FOR HEGEMONY
This paper will look at two aspects of so-called neo-pentecostalism in Brazil
Firstly shall review the debate over typologies of the pentecostal field Secondly
shall look at the efforts of the most important of the new churches the
Universal Church of the Kingdom of God to establish hegemony over the whole
Protestant field in Brazil
The typological problem in Brazilian Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism has been in Brazil since 1910 and has enjoyed rapid growth since
the late 1940s Today it comprises about two thirds of total Protestant commmunity
reliably estimated at around 15 of the population making it at around 15 million
the largest pentecostal community in the world Numerical growth which does not
show signs of slackening has been accompanied by high social visibility most notably
in politics Preston 1993 1994a 1996 and the media Fonseca 1997)
Not surprisingly pentecostalism has replaced the Catholic Base Communities as
the academically fashionable subject in the sociology of Brazilian and Latin American
religion Both Latin American and foreign scholars have contributed to considerable
advance in knowledge in the 1990s In Brazil one of the areas of advance has been
statistical of the composition of the vast pentecostal field Fernandes 1992
1994 ISER 1996 Pentecostalism is shown to be an essentially national and popular
i.e lower class phenomenon In Greater Rio de Janeiro from 1990 to 1992 one new
Protestant church was registered per day 91 of these were pentecostal The poorer
the district the higher the number of protestant churches per capita While Protestants
145 ARCHIVES DE SCIENCES SOCIALES DES RELIGIONS
were only 6 in the rich Zona Sul they were 20 in the desperately poor and violent
Baixada Fluminense In the poorest suburbs Protestant places of worship outnumbered
Catholic places of worship by seven to one Of the 52 largest denominations in Rio
37 were of Brazilian origin while all the others had long been under Brazilian control
It no longer makes sense to think of Protestantism as foreign religion Fernandes
1992 19 In Brazil as whole no newly-arrived church has established
significant presence in nearly fifty years the last example being the Four-Square which
started in 1951 Institutional creation seems to be definitively nationalised Of the six
most important pentecostal denominations in Brazil three are of Brazilian origin
Brazil for Christ 1955) God is Love 1962 and the Universal Church of the Kingdom
of God 1977) one is of Swedish origin Assemblies of God 1911) one is of American
origin Four-Square 1951) and the last Christian Congregation 1910 can be
classified as Italian-Brazilian since the founder an Italian who had emigrated to
Chicago and never actually resided in Brazil was the only foreign contact and the
church was established initially among Italian immigrants in Brazil
With regards to social composition although it blows in all directions of society
there is no doubt the pentecostal charisma grows more at the base of the socio-econo
mic structure ISER 1996 10 The main pentecostal church in Brazil the Assem
blies of God AG established in 1911 and the fastest-growing of the new
neo-pentecostal churches the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God UC
established in 1977) have very similar social profiles with respect to income educa
tion and colour They tend to recruit their members in the same social classes but
offer them different and sometimes divergent ecclesia alternatives ibid 11
Thus while 45 of the population earns less than two minimum salaries the rate for
all Protestants is 58 and 62 and 63 respectively for the AG and the UC Only
21 of the population have done no more than four years of schooling versus 39
of all 42 of AG members and 50 of UC members Non-whites are 40
of the population in the region but they are 51 of Protestants 56 of AG members
and 60 of UC members
However there are still large gaps in the macrosociology of pentecostalism e.g
regarding the exact social and occupational location variations among churches and
within each church over time The appeal of pentecostalism is not univocal and
marginal differences in liturgy and message can meet subtly different social demands
One important weakness is in the area of historiography Th