Church Base Communities and Democratic Change in Brazilian Society

Abstract

This article is an interpretation of the role of the Comunidades Eclesiais de Base (CEBs) - church base communities - in Brazil's democratization, inspired by Habermas's theory of “communicative action.” The basic point is that CEB influence is focused on motivational effects rather than on a direct politicization. These effects may have a crucial importance for the process of democratization, when they relate to local changes in the political culture. They may help popular groups to overcome submissiveness to authoritarian traditions and to work out new values and strategies for social action and political participation. The formation and development of democratic institutions and ideologies depends, nevertheless, on other historical conditions beyond the influence of the CEBs. The first part of the article examines the influence of the CEBs on urban neighborhood associations of low income groups in two different cities, presenting data on local changes in political culture. The second part looks at the CEBs' internal processes of resocialization, comparing their motivational consequences for sociopolitical change in three different regions, two of them in the countryside.