L’umbanda et le batuque dans le Cône Sud: du flux religieux transfrontalier au champ social transnational

ALEJANDRO FRIGERIO

La religión des orisha: Un champ social transnational en pleine recomposition

Hermann

Lugar: Paris; Año: 2011; p. 275 - 322

Despite, or perhaps because of, the recent growth in transnational studies, there are no unequivocal ways of understanding this phenomenon. I shall argue that there seem to be two main ways of conceptualizing transnationalism “from below”: either as the circulation or flow of people and/or different goods from one country to another or as the establishment of a social field composed by a variety of networks that transcend national boundaries. These ways of conceiving transnationalism are not mutually exclusive, but if one or the other of these views is employed, different social processes and consequences are highlighted. Here I shall employ both, in order to show how they emphasize different aspects of the transnationalization of Afro-Brazilian religions. I will argue for the need, especially in the Latin American context, for a more variegated and dynamic conceptualization of transnational social fields, acknowledging that the networks of relationships that constitute them are multi-directional and, far from being established once and for all, wax and wane, changing in intensity, extension, direction or focus. A diachronic view of the spread of Afro-Brazilian religions into Argentina will show this diversity and evolution, which may be explained by the spread of new technologies of communication, changing socio-economic conditions and costs of traveling abroad, as well as internal dynamics specific to these religious movements.