Transformations of Religious Affiliation in Contemporary Latin America: an Approach from Quantitative Data

Abstract

Over the last three decades, the production of social sciences regarding religion in Latin America has focused on the transformations of religious beliefs, practices, and identities in the region, with ethnographic studies being the prevailing methodological approach. This work aims at measuring the magnitude of the mutations in religious belonging and commitment to religious institutions in Latin America, identifying convergent and divergent profiles among the different countries of the region. For that purpose, the available statistical data both from official institutions and from research centers has been compiled and analyzed. The text further reflects on the epistemological assumptions underlying the construction of statistical information, on the contribution of quantitative studies to the sociology of religion and on their complementarity with qualitative approaches. It also explores the scope and implications of the secularization process in the region, based on changes in religious belonging and commitment. The existing surveys coincide in highlighting a declining tendency of Catholicism, with different intensities according to each country, a growth of evangelical adherents, and of those denominated “without religion,” a category that was unknown decades ago. It refers to those Latin American who consider themselves believers, although they do not feel identified with any religious framework, within the setting of a strong process of individuation of beliefs and religious deinstitutionalization.