"The article explores the phenomenon of political deification within the framework of religious populism, focusing on the leadership of Narendra Modi in India. Drawing on discourse theory, religious studies, and critical media studies, the paper examines how Modi’s image is sacralized, positioning
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him as more than a political leader – transforming him into a deity-like figure. Furthermore, by employing the concept of populist darshan, the article highlights how Modi’s visual and rhetorical strategies, amplified by digital media and mass communication technologies, construct a direct and intimate connection between him and the people. The Modi effect, characterized by the projection of an omnipresent and accessible leader, mirrors religious practices, fostering a perception of authority and reinforcing the Modi myth. This fusion of religious symbolism and political rhetoric is central to religious populism, where the boundaries between the sacred and the secular are fluid, and the leader is elevated to an exalted status. The article argues that Modi’s political deification is a powerful tool in consolidating power, offering insights into the intersection of religion, media, and populism in contemporary political life." (Abstract)
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"Die einstige Vorzeigedemokratie Venezuela ist seit der Regierungszeit von Hugo Chávez von Autoritarismus geprägt. Seit 2013 hält sich der Sozialist Nicolás Maduro zunehmend brutal an der Macht. Die Kirche versucht, dagegenzuhalten." (Einleitung)
"Neste texto, analisamos a trajetória eleitoral da deputada Cantora Mara Lima, procurando perceber como a candidata construiu seu carisma nas eleições estaduais paranaenses em 2014, 2018 e 2022, em sintonia com o projeto político da Assembleia de Deus (AD). Procedemos à coleta e sistematizaçã
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o de materiais publicados em suas mídias sociais, problematizando a instrumentalização de elementos simbólicos e performáticos para construir sua identidade, mimetizando sua “unção” gospel em capital político. Nesse movimento, a AD forneceu uma série de recursos institucionais por meio de um modelo de representação corporativa, propício para a dramatização político-religiosa e a formação do carisma da cantora, mobilizando os afetos do público-fiel. Observamos como a articulação entre a agência carismática da artista e a força da estrutura eclesiástica tem alcançado bons resultados nos pleitos analisados, em tempos de recrudescimento das polarizações e difusão de uma religião pública." (Resumo)
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"Zwischen dem 15. und 18. Jahrhundert erlangten westeuropäische Mächte die Herrschaft über weite Teile der Welt, was mit einem Anstieg des Sklavenhandels in bis dahin unbekannte Dimensionen verbunden war. Dieses Buch verfolgt die Argumentationsfiguren, mit denen man die mit Kolonisierung und Vers
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klavung verbundene Unterdrückung und Ausbeutung zu rechtfertigen versuchte." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"In Brasilien paktieren evangelikale Kirchen offen mit rechtsextremen Politikern um den Ex-Präsidenten Jair Bolsonaro. Die Regierung der Arbeiterpartei von Präsident Lula da Silva sucht nach einem Rezept gegen diese unheilvolle Allianz. Sie müsste vor allem ihre soziale Basis in den verarmten Vor
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städten der brasilianischen Metropolen zurückerobern." (Einleitung)
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"This open access book brings into dialogue migration and religion scholars with spiritual leaders and representatives of faith-based organizations assisting refugees. Migration has always been part of spiritual development. The current 'refugee crisis' has brought to the fore debates regarding the
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role of religion in defining difference, linking the 'refugee crisis' with Islam, and fear of the 'Other.' Many religious leaders and politicians invoke religious values and call for strict border controls while many humanitarians use religious values to welcome and assist refugees. This book focuses on politics and discourses mobilized by religious beliefs; lived experiences of religion; and faith actors' responses to forced migration." (Publisher description)
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"The dynamics of religion and religious practices are examined using various communication theories and paradigms to extrapolate how religion is designed, packaged, disseminated, and interpreted among Nigerians. Contributors trace the evolution and development of this problem to colonialism. The con
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tributors measure the impact of religious media messages from three perspectives: the impact of the messages themselves; the impact of the medium used in transmitting the message as in the McLuhan philosophy, “the medium is the message”; and the impact from the power of the source – the religious or political leaders (Opinion Leader) who exert influence on opinion followers. In this book, the contributors examine how religion is considered a propagandistic venture whereby capitalism and monetary gain are the norms, minimizing core religious values, traditional teachings, and methods of worship." (Publisher description)
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"This volume explores how religious and spiritual actors engage for environmental protection and fight against climate change. Climate change and sustainability are increasingly prominent topics among religious and spiritual groups. Different faith traditions have developed "green" theologies, launc
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hed environmental protection projects and issued public statements on climate change. Against this background, academic scholarship has raised optimistic claims about the strong potentials of religions to address environmental challenges. Taking a critical stance with regard to these claims, the chapters in this volume show that religious environmentalism is an embattled terrain. Tensions are an inherent part of religious environmentalism. These do not necessarily manifest themselves in open clashes between different parties but in different actions, views, theologies, ambivalences, misunderstandings, and sometimes mistrust. Keeping below the surface, these tensions can create effective barriers for religious environmentalism. The chapters examine how tensions are manifested and dealt with through a range of empirical case studies in various world regions. Covering different religious and spiritual traditions, they reflect on intradenominational, interdenominational, interreligious, and religious-societal tensions." (Publisher description)
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"This thematic issue asks about the role of religions and religious actors and conspiracy theories/theorists in democratic and authoritarian regimes in general. Special attention is given to the current Covid]19 pandemic, since the relevant state of emergency obviously endorses the persuasiveness
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of conspiracy theories and makes the comparison with religions necessary. In this respect, the challenges religious prejudices and conspiracy myths imply could even shed light on the problem of whether democracy or authoritarianism is the best regime to fight the Coronavirus successfully. The articles at hand answer these issues from interdisciplinary areas, particularly from political science, sociology, social psychology, and history." (Editorial, page 132)
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"Less than a year after the end of authoritarian rule in 1998, huge images of Jesus Christ and other Christian scenes proliferated on walls and billboards around a provincial town [Ambon] in eastern Indonesia where conflict had arisen between Muslims and Christians. A manifestation of the extreme pe
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rception that emerged amid uncertainty and the challenge to seeing brought on by urban warfare, the street paintings erected by Protestant motorbike-taxi drivers signaled a radical departure from the aniconic tradition of the old colonial church, a desire to be seen and recognized by political authorities from Jakarta to the UN and European Union, an aim to reinstate the Christian look of a city in the face of the country's widespread islamicization, and an opening to a more intimate relationship to the divine through the bringing-into-vision of the Christian god. Stridently assertive, these affectively charged mediations of religion, masculinity, Christian privilege and subjectivity are among the myriad ephemera of war, from rumors, graffiti, incendiary pamphlets, and Video CDs, to Peace Provocateur text-messages and children's reconciliation drawings. Orphaned Landscapes theorizes the production of monumental street art and other visual media as part of a wider work on appearance in which ordinary people, wittingly or unwittingly, refigure the aesthetic forms and sensory environment of their urban surroundings." (Publisher description)
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"O objetivo deste artigo é analisar as relações entre religião e política no Brasil contemporâneo, tomando como corpus de análise vídeos publicados pelo pastor evangélico da Igreja Assembleia de Deus Vitória em Cristo, Silas Malafaia. Um dos mais importantes líderes evangélicos do país,
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proprietário de um considerável conglomerado midiático (que vai de programas de rádio, editora e TV), Malafaia tem se destacado no cenário político nacional pelo menos desde a eleição de 2010. No ano de 2020, durante o segundo turno, produziu uma série de vídeos sobre a disputa em diversos munícipios, interpelando seus interlocutores como “povo abençoado” e proferindo uma série de ataques aos candidatos de esquerda, utilizando-se da ocasião para reproduzir sua oposição a tal campo político a partir da ideia de “perigo” que suas vitórias poderiam representar. Ao analisarmos sua argumentação, defendemos a hipótese de que sua discursividade traduz elementos de uma “guerra cultural” encetada por grupos conservadores no espaço público contemporâneo, com considerável capital midiático, sobretudo nas redes sociais." (Abstract)
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"Conservative Muslim groups have been very successful in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, in efforts to construct blasphemy as a serious threat to the Islamic community. These groups attempt to formalise Islam in state institutions in a way that rejects liberalism and pluralism;
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and the engagement of conservative Muslims in the enforcement of blasphemy law is on the rise. The actions of conservative Muslim groups in relation to blasphemy law should be understood as a reflection of how an increasingly Islamic Indonesian society is attempting to establish alliances with opportunist politicians. Conservative Muslim groups are fragmented and as such have no viable political vehicle that can represent and channel their interests. Conservative Muslims therefore seek to establish apparently informal and loose alliances with politicians that could help them to achieve their goal of formalising Islam in state institutions. Meanwhile, opportunist politicians regard articulating conservative Islamic narratives as a way of garnering greater support among voters. Blasphemy law has become politicised through these alliances. The alliances between politicians and religious groups manifest in two ways in relation to blasphemy law: * The politicisation of blasphemy cases. Many blasphemy accusations in Indonesia are made during electoral contests and create opportunities to merge the goals of religious groups and political elites. * Through efforts to maintain the blasphemy law. The narrative of protecting religion, public order and national unity have often been articulated by both conservative Muslim groups and politicians to legitimise the continued existence of the law." (Introduction)
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"Este artigo tem por objetivo examinar a relevância de produções de contrainformação desenvolvidas durante a ditadura militar no Brasil por grupos religiosos. O objeto é a revista Paz e Terra, da Editora Civilização Brasileira nos anos 1960, como iniciativa ímpar no campo da comunicação r
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eligiosa, ecumênica e política. A fim de se responder à questão-problema “qual o lugar da revista Paz e Terra na memória das produções midiáticas religiosas no Brasil?” são tomados por base estudos sobre “suportes da memória” e “lugares de memória”. A articulação entre a narrativa da memória de Paz e Terra e a descrição do conteúdo dos dez exemplares publicados, que forma a metodologia da pesquisa empregada, foi feita com base no acervo da revista, em pesquisa documental, em depoimentos de personagens envolvidas, colhidos durante pesquisa para o Mestrado em Memória Social da autora, e em obras sobre a Editora Civilização Brasileira e seu editor Ênio Silveira, sobre as lideranças evangélicas envolvidas no projeto e sobre a própria revista." (Resumo)
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