Secularização à brasileira: um estudo sobre as relações entre cultura popular religiosidade afro-brasileira e laicidade da escola pública

Abstract

Our objective is to analyze the process of secularization of Brazilian culture and society, in order to understand the difficulties that impact the laicization process of the public school, an important instance of the state. For this, we seek to critically discuss the theories of secularization / disenchantment in Brazilian and Latin American contexts. Syncretism, a phenomenon present in Brazilian religions, hegemonically Christian and Catholic, even if under the influence of African-based religions, is an important concept that we use to elucidate the reality of hybrid, mixed-race societies (focus of this research) like those of Latin America and Brazil. Very relevant to our discussion, Weber's theory of secularization guides the reflection we have drawn on Eisenstadt’s multiple modernities, and their impacts on the secular world. We present defenders and detractors of the theory of Weberian secularization, considering theoretical divergences from different authors. We analyze the syncretism processes that reshape Afro-Brazilian religions, Catholicism and Neo-Pentecostalism. In addition, this research intends to instigate the discussion about popular religiosity and its capacity to affect the dynamism of the secularization process of Brazilian society, the laicization of the state and its instances, like the public school. We do not live in a sufficiently secular society, and this has been demonstrated by many researches. Thus, in this research, there is an attempt to answer the questions: why does Brazilian society have difficulties in laicize itself? What causes make the secularization process of our society peculiar and diverse? The answers can be found in the deepest galleries of the formation of Brazilian culture. That is why we have a fruitful dialogue between the educational field, cultural history, the sociology of religion and cultural anthropology.