Igualdad religiosa y reconocimiento estatal: instituciones y líderes evangélicos en los debates sobre la regulación de las actividades religiosas en Argentina, 2002-2010

Abstract

Religious equality was the main political demand of Evangelists in Argentina in the decade of 1990. This article analyzes the repercussions of this demand between 2002 and 2010, focusing on the discussion of the proposed bills on religious activities and institutions in Argentina. We assume that none of the projects were approved during that period due to the emergence of controversies around the definition of the Evangelists’ public agenda, the perseverance of the Catholic opposition, and the low reception of this demand by the political leadership in Argentina. Methodologically, the debates are rebuilt around religious equality through different information sources: a) proposed bills presented; b) news about these bills and the religious equality in the main national newspapers and evangelical press; and c) in-depth interviews with evangelical pacesetters that participate in the discussion of such projects. We conclude that the events that took place during that period conferred visibility to the internal fractures of the evangelical space, to the limits of their political projection and the preservation of the Catholic hegemony in the political-religious relationships in Argentina.