Formas de pertenencia religiosa y procesos de construcción del espacio en la migración latinoamericana: entre vínculos colonizados y redenciones creativas

Abstract

The attention that has recently been paid to religion in migration studies is linked to the interest in the transactions and interconnections that exist between migrants and their families in their home countries, as well as to the importance of religious practices for migrants in their target country. By means of examining specific cases of migration and by comparing different religious groups – Catholics as well as migrants without specific religous affiliation –continuity and change in the forms of belonging can be observed and can be traced back through colonial history. Through analyzing the processes of construction of religious space, it is investigated whether the transfer of concepts and religious images provoked new essentialisms or hybrid cultures, in which an assembly of ideologies and worldviews was articulated. The cases in comparison show that religions and their devices have an important influence on the conceptions of space and the perceptions of the reality of space that determine our social practices and belonging.