Religião, política e música: a dinâmica de uma comunidade eclesial de base em Jacarepaguá

Abstract

This thesis aims to provide a history of the beginning, rise and decline of a Basic Ecclesial Community (BEC) located in the Shangri-lá slum in Jacarepaguá, My thesis explores its dynamics and focuses on the main activities developed in that BEC for approximately twenty years. I chose as my main interlocutors the local leaders that were active in the BEC since its foundation. They drew my attention because I realized they could contribute to a more profound understanding of this new way of being the Church in a specific situation. Thus, I endeavored to analyze and problematize the complexity of the facts involved in the debate on the process of making BECs legitimate. During the process of implementation of this BEC, those agents were keenly aware of the social circumstances of the local populations, and, through their action, developed associative and religious experiences, as well as new citizenship practices. Moreover, by analyzing the dynamics of a specific BEC and focusing on the process of political socialization of its main leadership, the extent of the influence of the collectively built experiences in the formation of their ethos and their world view became clear.