Brazilians of African descent draw upon both Christian and African diasporic religions to construct their racial identities in a variety of intriguing ways. Focusing on the Recôncavo region of north-eastern Brazil—known for its rich Afro-Brazilian traditions and as a center of racial consciousness in the country—this book provides an ethnography that examines what it means to be black in Brazil. It examines how Evangelical Protestantism, Candomblé (traditional Afro-Brazilian religion), and Catholicism—especially progressive Catholicism—are deployed in discursive struggles concerning racism and ... More

Brazilians of African descent draw upon both Christian and African diasporic religions to construct their racial identities in a variety of intriguing ways. Focusing on the Recôncavo region of north-eastern Brazil—known for its rich Afro-Brazilian traditions and as a center of racial consciousness in the country—this book provides an ethnography that examines what it means to be black in Brazil. It examines how Evangelical Protestantism, Candomblé (traditional Afro-Brazilian religion), and Catholicism—especially progressive Catholicism—are deployed in discursive struggles concerning racism and identity. In the process, the book provides a model of wedding abstract theory with concrete details of everyday life. Revealing the complexity and sometimes contradictory aspects of Afro-Brazilian religious practices and racial identity, the book brings a balanced perspective to polarized discussions of Brazilian racial politics.