Abstract
This work focuses on the collaborations between researchers of religion and the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) regarding Religious Censuses. We analyze how the problem of categorizing religions became the central axis of the debate among scholars and also a reason for tension between scholars and IBGE. Our aim is to demonstrate that the criticism of the Census by specialists in religion is not only technical and institutional but also has an epistemological dimension. While researchers were concerned about capturing the phenomenon of religious diversification and the emergence of new “cults” in Brazil, IBGE was focusing on enumerating “churches.” As a result, the notion of religious affiliation, implicit in the operation, ended up reiterating, paradoxically, the synonymy religion/church that the academic debate was distinguishing and the qualitative research seeking to overcome.
Presenters
Henrique Fernandes AntunesPostdoctoral Researcher, Urban Etnography, Brazilian Center of Analysis and Planning (CEBRAP), São Paulo, Brazil
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Censuses, Scholars, Classification
