Secure the Soul - Christian Piety and Gang Prevention in Guatemala

1. Auflage 2015
ISBN: 978-0-520-27849-3
Verlag: University of California Press

Buch, Englisch, 304 Seiten, Trade Paperback, Format (B × H): 153 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 428 g

“I’m not perfect,” Mateo confessed. “Nobody is. But I try.” Secure the Soul shuttles between the life of Mateo, a born-again ex-gang member in Guatemala and the gang prevention programs that work so hard to keep him alive. Along the way, this poignantly written ethnography uncovers the Christian underpinnings of Central American security. In the streets of Guatemala City—amid angry lynch mobs, overcrowded prisons, and paramilitary death squads—millions of dollars empower church missions, faith-based programs, and seemingly secular security projects to prevent gang violence through the practice of Christian piety. With Guatemala increasingly defined by both God and gangs, Secure the Soul details an emerging strategy of geopolitical significance: regional security by way of good Christian living.

Autoren/Hrsg.

O`neill, Kevin Lewis

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionssoziologie und -psychologie, Spiritualität, Mystik
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Religionssoziologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christentum/Christliche Theologie Allgemein Christentum und Gesellschaft, Kirche und Politik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Illustrations
Prologue

Introduction
Forgiveness
1. Insecurities
Hamsters
2. Reality
Pangs
3. A Calling
Service
4. Left Behind
Captivity
5. Forsaken
Adrift
Epilogue

Acknowledgments
Appendix: Notes on Research
Notes
Reference List
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Kevin Lewis O'Neill is Associate Professor in the Department for the Study of Religion and the Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies, University of Toronto. He is the author of City of God: Christian Citizenship in Postwar Guatemala.