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Course Description

Summary

One of the more ubiquitous problems in formulating thought on Latin America, evident in anything from a page-long critique of a painting to governmental policy, is the premise that liberalism, for all its apparent flaws, has good intentions, and is coupled to the increasing obsolescence of religion, which only serves to divide theory and practice. The development of political, economic, scientific and cultural spheres as distinct to the Catholic Church in nineteenth-century Latin America was a cornerstone of the secularizing agenda of liberalism, which contributed and continues to contribute to the redefinition of relations between religious institutions, the state, and public life. This course will consider reformist positions towards the Church in Latin American society to draw attention to the processes of negotiation between liberals and the Church, as well as their effects on the public realm. It will incorporate US perspectives to examine the emergence of Masonic and Protestant movements in Latin America in a comparative frame, and the extent to which liberal traditions in the Americas were and are affected by different theologies.