Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-sh8wx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-18T20:20:35.780Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Religious Allegiance and Economic Development in Rural Latin America

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

David L. Clawson*
Affiliation:
University of New Orleans

Extract

The possible correlation between religious affiliation and economic status and development has long interested social scientists. The purpose of this study is to analyze the potential contribution of Protestantism to the agricultural and economic development of Latin American agrarian communities.

The effects of religious affiliation on economic behavior have been studied most extensively in Western Europe and the United States. Max Weber (1958: 35) concluded in his pioneering study, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, that in nations of mixed Catholic-Protestant religious composition the business leaders, owners of capital, and higher grades of skilled labor were “overwhelmingly Protestant.” Weber's initial intent was not to compare Protestant and Catholic economic achievement in Germany but, rather, to provide a non-Marxist interpretation of the rise of industrial capitalism and the attendant expansion of urbanization.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barreiro, A. (1982) Basic Ecclesial Communities: The Evangelization of the Poor. (Campbell, Barbara, trans.) Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.Google Scholar
Bouma, G. D. (1973) “Beyond Lenski: a critical review of recent ‘Protestant ethic’ research.” J. for the Scientific Study of Religion 12 (June): 141155.Google Scholar
Bruneau, T. C. (1982) The Church in Brazil: The Politics of Religion. Austin: Univ. of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Bruneau, T. C. (1980) “Basic Christian communities in Latin America,” pp. 225237 in Levine, D. (ed.) Churches and Politics in Latin America. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Bruneau, T. C. (1973) “Power and influence: analysis of the church in Latin America and the case of Brazil.” Latin Amer. Research Rev. 8 (Summer): 2551.Google Scholar
Cabestrero, T. (1981) Mystic of Liberation: A Portrait of Pedro Casaldaliga. (Walsh, Donald, trans.) Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.Google Scholar
Cantril, H. (1943) “Educational and economic composition of religious groups: an analysis of poll data.” Amer. J. of Sociology 48 (March): 574579.Google Scholar
Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo (1974) The Puebla Project: Seven Years of Experience: 1967-1973. El Batán, México: CIMMYT.Google Scholar
Clawson, D. L. and Hoy, D. R. (1979) “Nealtican, Mexico: a peasant community that rejected the ‘green revolution.’Amer. J. of Economics and Sociology 38 (October): 371387.Google Scholar
Coxill, H. W. and Grubb, K. [eds.] (1967) World Christian Handbook 1968. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.Google Scholar
Crespi, I. (1963) “Occupational status and religion.” Amer. Soc. Rev. 28 (February): 131.Google Scholar
Curry, D. E. (1970) “Messianism and protestantism in Brazil's sertao.” J. of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 12 (July): 416438.Google Scholar
Damboriena, P. (1962-1963) El Protestantismo en América Latina. Friburgo, Suiza: Oficina Internacional de Investigaciones Sociales de FERES.Google Scholar
Denton, C. F. (1971) “Protestantism and the Latin American middle class.” Practical Anthropology 18 (January-February): 2428.Google Scholar
Dussel, E. (1981) A History of the Church in Latin America. (Neely, Alan, trans.) Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing.Google Scholar
Flora, C. B. (1976) Pentecostalism in Colombia: Baptism by Fire and Spirit. Cranbury, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Foy, F. [ed.] (1980) 1981 Catholic Almanac. Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor.Google Scholar
Freiré, P. (1974) Lás Iglesias, la Educación, y el Proceso de Liberación Humana en la Historia. Buenos Aires: Asociación Editorial la Aurora.Google Scholar
Freiré, P. (1971) Conciencia, Crítica y Liberación: Pedagogía del Oprimido. Bogotá: Ediciones Camilo.Google Scholar
Freiré, P. (1968) Educacão e Conscientizacão: Extensionismo Rural. Cuernavaca: Centro Intercultural de Documentación.Google Scholar
Gaede, S. (1977) “Religious affiliation, social mobility, and the problem of causality: a methodological critique of Catholic-Protestant socioeconomic achievement studies.” Rev. of Religious Research 19 (Fall): 5462.Google Scholar
Gibellini, R. [ed.] (1979) Frontiers of Theology in Latin America. (Drury, John, trans.) Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.Google Scholar
Glenn, N. D. and Hyland, R. (1967) “Religious preference and worldly success: some evidence from national surveys.” Amer. Soc. Rev. 32 (February): 7385.Google Scholar
Gockel, G. L. (1969) “Income and religious affiliation: a regression analysis.” Amer. J. of Sociology 74 (May): 632647.Google Scholar
Golde, G. (1975) Catholics and Protestants: Agricultural Modernization in Two German Villages. New York: Academic.Google Scholar
Goldstein, S. (1969) “Socioeconomic differentials among religious groups in the United States.” Amer. J. of Sociology 74 (May): 612631.Google Scholar
Greeley, A. M. (1964) “The Protestant ethic: time for a moratorium.” Soc. Analysis 25 (Spring): 2033.Google Scholar
Hinshaw, R. E. (1975) Panajachel: A Guatemalan Town in Thirty-Year Perspective. Pittsburgh: Univ. of Pittsburgh Press.Google Scholar
Hoffnagel, J. C. (1980) “Pentecostalism: a revolutionary or conservative movement?” pp. 111123 inGlazier, S. D. (ed.) Perspectives on Pentecostalism: Case Studies from the Caribbean and Latin America. Washington, DC: University Press of America.Google Scholar
Hoover, W. C. (1948) Historia del Avivamiento Pentecostal en Chile. Valparaiso: Imprenta Excelsior.Google Scholar
Houtart, F. and Pin, E. (1965) The Church and the Latin American Revolution. (Barth, Gilbert, trans.) New York: Sheed and Ward.Google Scholar
Jackson, E. F., Fox, W. A., and Crockett, H. J. Jr. (1970) “Religion and occupational achievement.” Amer. Soc. Rev. 35 (February): 4863.Google Scholar
Kenyon, J. [ed.] (1969) Latin American Evangelist 49 (Novermber-December): 12, 21.Google Scholar
Latorre Cabal, H. (1978) The Revolution of the Latin American Church. (Hendricks, Francis K. and Berler, Beatrice, trans.) Norman: Univ. of Oklahoma Press.Google Scholar
Lenski, G. (1971) “The religious factor in Detroit: revisited.” Amer. Soc. Rev. 36 (February): 4850.Google Scholar
Lenski, G. (1963) The Religious Factor. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books.Google Scholar
Levine, D. H. (1981) Religion and Politics in Latin America: The Catholic Church in Venezuela and Colombia. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Levine, D. H. (1980) “Religion and politics: politics and religion,” pp. 1637 in Levine, D. (ed.) Churches and Politics in Latin America. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Lunsford, R. L. and Lunsford, E. (1945) Tomorrow in Latin America. Kansas City, MO: Nazarene Publishing House.Google Scholar
Mack, R. W., Murphry, R. J., and Yellin, S. (1956) “The Protestant ethic, level of aspiration, and social mobility: an empirical test.” Amer. Soc. Rev. 21 (June): 295300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Margolies, L. (1980) “The paradoxical growth of Pentecostalism,” pp. 15 in Grazier, S. (ed.) Perspectives on Pentecostalism: Case Studies from the Caribbean and Latin America. Washington, DC: University Press of America.Google Scholar
Mayer, A. J. and Sharp, H. (1962) “Religious preference and worldly success.” Amer. Soc. Rev. 27 (April): 218227.Google Scholar
McGavran, D. (1963) Church Growth in Mexico. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdsmans Publishing.Google Scholar
Mecham, J. L. (1966) Church and State in Latin America. Chapel Hill: Univ. of North Carolina Press.Google Scholar
Mexico, Direccion General de Estadistica (1971) Noveno Censo General de Población 1970. México, DF: Secretaría de Industria y Comercio.Google Scholar
Mexico, Direccion General de Estadistica (1943) Sexto Censo General de Población 1940. México, DF: Secretaría de la Economía Nacional.Google Scholar
Missions Advanced Research and Communication Center (1977) Personal Communication of May 13.Google Scholar
Montgomery, T. S. (1979) “Latin American Evangelicals: Oaxtepec and beyond,” pp. 87107 in Levine, D. H. (ed.) Churches and Politics in Latin America. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Nida, E. A. (1958) “The relationship of social structure to the problem of evangelism in Latin America.” Practical Anthropology 5 (March-April): 101123.Google Scholar
Norman, E. (1981) Christianity in the Southern Hemisphere: The Churches in Latin America and South Africa. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Read, W. R. and Ineson, F. I. (1973) Brazil 1980: The Protestant Handbook. Monrovia, CA: Missions Advanced Research and Communications Center.Google Scholar
Roberts, B. R. (1968) “Protestant groups and coping with urban life in Guatemala City.” Amer. J. of Sociology 73 (May): 753767.Google Scholar
Rycroft, W. S. and Clemmer, M. M. (1963) A Factual Study of Latin America. New York: United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Google Scholar
Sawatzky, H. L. (1971) They Sought a Country: Mennonite Colonization in Mexico. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.Google Scholar
Schuman, H. (1971) “The religious factor in Detroit: review, replication, and reanalysis.” Amer. Soc. Rev. 36 (February): 3048.Google Scholar
Spencer, B. A. (1981) “Introduction,” pp. xxvxliii in Dahlin, T. et al. (eds.) The Catholic Left in Latin America. Boston: G. K. Hall.Google Scholar
Times-Picayune (1980) February 24.Google Scholar
Torres, S. and Eagleson, J. [eds.] (1981) The Challenge of Basic Christian Communities. (Drury, John, trans.) Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.Google Scholar
Vergara, I. (1962) El Protestantismo en Chile. Santiago, Chile: Editorial del Pacífico, S. A. Google Scholar
Veroff, J., Feld, S., and Gurin, G. (1962) “Achievement motivation and religious background.” Amer. Soc. Rev. 27 (April): 205217.Google Scholar
Warkov, S. and Greeley, A. M. (1966) “Parochial school origins and educational achievement.” Amer. Soc. Rev. 31 (June): 406414.Google Scholar
Weber, M. (1958) The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. (Parsons, Talcott, trans.) New York: Scribner.Google Scholar
Willems, E. (1967) Followers of the New Faith. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Young, K. E. (1968) Ordeal in Mexico. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company.Google Scholar