Religion in Mexico and Mexican-American Communities

January 3, 2020

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Religion is central to life in Mexico and Mexican America. Religious understandings and goals inform and energize politics, community lives, gender relations, migration, and more. Yet there is no singular Mexican religion; rather, a universe of visions and understandings shape the changing communities of Mexico and Mexican America. The powerful and the populace, rural peoples and the growing numbers streaming into cities across greater North America live in worlds defined and at times contested by religious commitments.

Leading scholars gathered at the Mexican Cultural Institute of Washington, DC, in November 2019 to discuss the role of religion in Mexican politics, migration, and Mexican-American communities from 1920 to 2020. The Berkley Forum welcomes conference participants to share their reflections from the meeting. 

This week the Berkley Forum asks: How has religion shaped the modern Mexican nation-state? What is the historical relationship between Mexican nationalism and Roman Catholicism? How have religious practices and worldviews intersected with Mexican migration? What roles has religion played in the construction of Mexican-American communities in the United States?  

related conference | Religion in Mexican Politics, Migration, and Mexican American Communities, 1920–2020

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