The rebirth of Catholic collective action in Central America: A new model of church-based political participation

Abstract

We analyze a new effort at collective political mobilization, sponsored by the Catholic Church in Central America following the demobilization of church-linked liberationist movements since the early 1990s. The current effort strives to re-project social Catholicism into the public arena by drawing on traditional Catholic structures, the cultural legacy of liberationist Catholicism, and a model of democratic organizing promoted by the PICO National Network in the United States. Drawing primarily on ethnographic and interview data, we explain the initial success of the effort in the light of the literature on resource mobilization, mobilizing structures, and the cultural dynamics of social movements, then assess the ongoing and future challenges that PICO-Central America is likely to face. We argue that despite PICO’s challenges in Central America, the movement represents a rebirth of Catholic activism in the region and holds significant promise as one element in the consolidation of democratic politics in Central America.