Globalizing the sacred: religion across the Americas

Abstract

Globalizing the Sacred breaks new ground in our understanding of the transnational role of religion. Based on case studies in the Americas, this book challenges modernist assumptions about the ways Christians communicate and interact in an increasingly global world. Vasquez and Marquardt demonstrate a sophisticated knowledge of transnational theory as they engage debates related to hybrid identities, the transformative impact of the Internet, and the increasing flow of migrants across national borders. --Donald E. Miller, executive director, Center for Religion and Civic Culture, University of Southern California A magnificent exploration of the multiple ways local religion shapes and is shaped by its institutional, regional, and global contexts. Locating their analysis at the crossroads between religious studies and emerging literature on globalization, Vasquez and Marquardt masterfully interweave theory and case studies to provide essential insights for understanding religion and social change in the twenty-first century. --Timothy Matovina, director, Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism, University of Notre Dame Drawing on case studies in the United States and Latin America, Manuel A. Vasquez and Marie Friedmann Marquardt explore the evolving roles of religion in the Americas in the face of globalization, transnational migration, the rapid growth of culture industries, the rise of computer mediated technologies, and the crisis of modernity. Combining ethnographic research in local congregations, studies of material culture and sacred space, textual analyses, and approaches to mass and electronic media, the authors challenge dominant paradigms in the sociology of religion. Manuel A. Vasquez is an associate professor of religion at the University of Florida, Gainesville. He is the author of The Brazilian Popular Church and the Crisis of Modernity and is coeditor of Christianity, Social Change, and Globalization in the Americas (Rutgers University Press). Marie Friedmann Marquardt is a Ph.D. candidate in the sociology of religion at Emory University.