Transformando los paisajes judeo-religiosos en la Argentina.

For the last two decades, the proliferation of religious groups has fundamentally altered the social and religious landscape of Latin America. From Mexico to Chile, Argentina and Brazil, millions of Latin Americans have abandoned their traditional religious upbringing to embrace new and different religious beliefs and practices or to strength their own. These processes have challenged fundamental social structures and public policies in matters such as community boundaries, family integration and individuals sense of self. In light of these developments, the question begs how do processes of increased religiosity shape the boundaries and institutional development of communities?

Understanding these communal developments can elucidate the understanding of the dynamics of exclusion-inclusion of religious and ethnic communities within countries that enhance policies of assimilation. It can also illuminate the understanding of the impact of transnational conflicts in the restructuring and institutionalization of cultural and ethnic Diaspora communities.

To examine these developments, this presentation focus on the Argentinian Jewish community through the analysis of: 1) the dynamics of religious boundaries formation in a country where Catholicism had been the predominant religion and 2) to uncover the dynamics of the relations of the community with the state and civil society in light of internal and transnational changes. These changes impact both the integration of religious minorities and the strategies of recognition developed within and towards the Jewish community. The analysis will focus on two over-riding themes: The process of Return" (tshuva) and the institutionalization of change at the symbolic and institutional level."