Religious Actors and Discourses in the Public Sphere: Controversies Around Sexual Education in Argentina

Abstract

This chapter proposes an in-depth analysis of the complex connections between religion and politics in democratic Argentina by focusing on the actions of political and religious leaders with respect to the approval of legislation on sexual education in 2006. Based on a reconstruction of the parliamentary defeat and the tedious path towards the effective implementation of sexual education in the education system, I examine the active negotiation between politics and religion in the public sphere, as well as the intervention strategies and discursive foundations of the religious institutions—principally the Catholic Church—that frequently influence legislation and governmental policies. I analyze the interaction between political culture, ecclesiastical power, and citizens’ rights in order to rethink national public administration and the possible conditions for guaranteeing an inclusive democracy.