Sociology and Anthropology Vol. 4(12), pp. 1054 - 1065
DOI: 10.13189/sa.2016.041204
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"Communion and Liberation" Movement: Transnational Practices and Discourses

Sabrina Testa ^*
Federal University of Santa Catarina (PPGAS/UFSC), Brazil

ABSTRACT

This paper intends to describe how the general organization of the "Communion and Liberation" Movement is interpreted and operacionalized locally in South America. Communion and Liberation is an international catholic movement headquartered in Italy, where it enjoys a standing social and political influence. Previous studies tend to characterize the movement in terms of its general institutional structure and philosophy, based mostly on official sources and public activity in the Italian context. However, there is little information about how the movement works at the basis level, and how it does son in contexts different form Italy. In fact, Communion and Liberation is a movement addressed to laypersons and conducted by them at the local level, hence it can be also understood as a network of contacts and bonds that creates forms of sociability and of experiencing faith that cross different national, regional and cultural borders. In this regard, this paper presents some findings about how Communion and Liberation is understood and put into practice in specific locations of South America. Data comes from an ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2009 and 2012 with two different groups of Communion and Liberation. The first one took place within the university group of a city located in the central region of Argentina and the second one within the adult group of a city located in the south of Brazil.

KEYWORDS
Discourses, Practices, Communion and Liberation

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Sabrina Testa , ""Communion and Liberation" Movement: Transnational Practices and Discourses," Sociology and Anthropology, Vol. 4, No. 12, pp. 1054 - 1065, 2016. DOI: 10.13189/sa.2016.041204.

(b). APA Format:
Sabrina Testa (2016). "Communion and Liberation" Movement: Transnational Practices and Discourses. Sociology and Anthropology, 4(12), 1054 - 1065. DOI: 10.13189/sa.2016.041204.