On the border between culture and religion. Public policies for Afro-Brazilian religions in Brazil

Abstract

This paper aims to discuss some of the recent questions concerning the promotion of public policies for Afro-Brazilian religions. To access to these policies, these groups have organized over the last few decades in the form of civil society associations and their leaders have attended many ministerial board meetings and committees. Because of this engagement, Afro-Brazilian religions were classified as "traditional terreiro peoples" and more recently received the label of "traditional peoples and communities of African origin." The paper analyses the various arguments underpinning the discursive construction of Afro-Brazilian religions as representatives of a black cultural heritage in Brazil.

When Religion Is Culture: Observations About State Policies Aimed at Afro-Brazilian Religions and Other Afro-Heritage

“…In other words, the scope of these measures has been much broader than that for measures that depend strictly on cultural policies. 10 Again, Morais (2014) and Cordovil's (2014) Racial, or SEPPIR), enhanced the holding of events and the creation of documents that brought about policies based on several rubrics. There have been initiatives in the field of health and education, for example, that involved terreiros.…”

“…Another field is food security, in which we note initiatives that have operated more explicitly on two fronts: on the one hand, producing knowledge, which is fulfilled in "mapping" terreiros in different Brazilian cities and publishing them on websites and in books, on the other hand, promoting food distribution programs for families registered by terreiros. As noted by Cordovil (2014), this government policy depends on an interconnection that conceives Afroreligious places of worship like knots in a net characterized by social vulnerability, but also as modes of being that are structured around an idea of "traditionality," -I believe this idea can also be found in reasons behind listing terreiros as heritage (Giumbelli, 2014).…”

“Povos e comunidades tradicionais de matriz africana” no combate ao “racismo religioso”: a presença afro-religiosa na Política Nacional de Promoção da Igualdade Racial

“…2010 ;Cordovil 2014;Silva 2014;Morais 2018). Nesse contexto, a Política Nacional de Promoção da Igualdade Racial (PNPIR), foco deste artigo, ganhou destaque uma vez que se tornou lócus privilegiado para o movimento afro-religioso apresentar sua agenda e desenvolver novas estratégias para tentar assegurar que seus representados possam continuar praticando suas religiões.…”

“…O período escolhido para análise, de 2003 a 2018, compreende os dois mandatos presidenciais de Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003Silva ( -2006Silva ( , 2007Silva ( -2010, seguidos de outros dois mandatos presidenciais de Dilma Rousseff (2011-2014, 2015-2016, finalizando com o curto governo de Michel Temer (2016-2018) -que assumiu a presidência da República após o processo de impeachment sofrido pela presidenta Dilma em agosto de 2016. Uma escolha à primeira vista arbitrária ou talvez oportuna por contemplar praticamente quatro mandatos presidenciais do Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT), que se manteve, apesar dos percalços, alinhado a pauta antirracista.…”