Abstract
In a context where society is becoming less Catholic and more diverse, Argentina’s sexual politics presents the opportunity to explore the ways in which the social imaginaries regarding religion and nonreligion are contested. Based on qualitative data from in-depth interviews, documents, and websites analysis, this chapter focuses on the political mobilization of both religious and nonreligious imaginaries by those in favor of legalizing abortion during 2018 public debates. Particularly we consider two mobilizations: The Collective Apostasy Campaign—called “Not in my name”—and the main strategies of Catholics for Choice (Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir). Both mobilizations interpellate an ongoing growing segment of Argentina’s society that questioned the interference of Catholic Church and other religious actors in public debates. Both, also, advance in creating new political subjectivities: the Catholic dissident and the apostate. Through this analysis we discuss the complexity of religious and nonreligious imaginaries as central elements in contemporary sexual politics in Argentina.
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Notes
- 1.
Social imaginaries not only rely on everyday representations and experiences of people but also serve as a collective mediation through which individuals understand their identities and place in the world (Gaonkar, 2002). This work deals mainly with this second aspect of the concept.
- 2.
The National Constitution guarantees religious freedom, but also established State’s “support” of the Roman Catholic Church, which enjoys a privileged legal status compared to any other religion in the country (Vives, 2018).
- 3.
It is important to consider that between the first and second moment, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (from Buenos Aires) became Pope Francis.
- 4.
Some interviewees have emphasized the cathartic act of fulfilling the apostasy requirements and requesting the removal of baptismal records, even when they have not yet received a favorable response to their application by the Church.
- 5.
Currently, there are CDD, with different levels of formalizations, in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, México, Nicaragua, Paraguay, and Perú y Ecuador. Though these CDDs recognize their links among them and with the existing one in the USA (the first one to be created in 1973) they operate as autonomous NGOs.
- 6.
For example, one of CDD campaigns is called “I’m Catholic. I decide with freedom” (Soy Católica. Decido en Libertad) which provide graphic products to share in social networks with claims like: “Neither my family, nor my partner, nor the Church, nor morals decide for me” (Catolicas.org.ar, n.d.).
- 7.
In the organization website, there is detailed account of their activities: http://catolicas.org.ar/nuestro-trabajo/
- 8.
In the webpage of the CDD-Argentina and of the Red Latinoamericana de Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir is possible to find different publications related to feminist theologies. www.catolicasporelderechoadecidir.net
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Rabbia, H.H., Vaggione, J.M. (2021). The Mobilization of Religious and Nonreligious Imaginaries in Argentine Sexual Politics. In: Beaman, L.G., Stacey, T. (eds) Nonreligious Imaginaries of World Repairing. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72881-6_5
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