“States of Devotion: Religion, Neoliberalism and the Politics of the Body in the Americas,” took place at the Hemispheric Institute on November 4-5, 2010. During this two-day event, invited scholars presented work examining the changing role of religious discourses and practices in the wake of the transformations wrought by neoliberal globalization upon communities, societies and polities across the Americas. The conference program included panel presentations, plenary discussions, a special long-table discussion in which conference attendees were given the opportunity sit alongside presenters, a photo exhibit, and a night of performances in the States of Devotion cabaret.
Participants included Ana Amuchástegui (Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana), Roberto J. Blancarte (Colegio de México), Susana Cook (Independent artist), Rafael de la Dehesa (City University of New York), Emerson Giumbelli (Universidade Federal de Rio de Janeiro), Marcial Godoy-Anativia (New York University), Macarena Gómez-Barris (University of Southern California), Janet Jakobsen (Barnard College), Peter Kulchyski (University of Manitoba), Leda Martins (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais), Elizabeth McAlister (Wesleyan University), Bethany Moreton (University of Georgia), Kemy Oyarzún (Universidad de Chile), Ann Pellegrini (New York University), Anthony Petro (New York University), Reverend Billy (The Church of Life After Shopping), Jesusa Rodríguez (Resistencia Creativa), Pablo Seman (IDES/Colegio de México), Peggy Shaw (Split Britches), Winnifred Sullivan (University of Buffalo), Diana Taylor (New York University), and Moysés Zúñiga Santiago (Independent photojournalist, Mexico).
The conference program also included a photography exhibit featuring the recent work of award-winning Mexican photojournalist Moysés Zúñiga Santiago in the town of Mitzitón, Chiapas, Mexico. Violence Towards One is Violence Towards All, as the exhibit is called, vividly documents the ongoing conflict between Mitzitón’s majority—Catholic-identified supporters of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN)—and the minority, members of the Evangelical congregation known as the Ejército de Dios (Army of God). While usually covered in the media as a religious conflict between Evangelical Christians and Catholic Zapatista supporters, the conflict in Mitzitón is closely tied to struggles over land rights as the Mexican government has begun construction of a major highway that runs through town lands. It also has its roots in the Mexican government’s ongoing low-intensity counterinsurgency against the EZLN and its affiliated villages, and in the decades-long tensions in Chiapas between Catholics: those identified with liberation theology against those identified with the official positions of the Catholic Church. Since 2009, confrontations have erupted between Zapatista supporters and the Army of God, who the Zapatistas believe are an instrument of the Mexican government under the veil of a religious organization. In early 2011, the exhibit will travel to Chiapas, Mexico, where it will be displayed at the Centro Hemisférico en FOMMA, the Hemispheric Institute’s satellite center in the city of San Cristóbal de las Casas.
SCHEDULE: November 4, 2010
Welcome by Marcial Godoy-Anativia, Ann Pellegrini and Diana Taylor (NYU)
Technologies of Governance
Spiritual Governance
Winnifred Sullivan (University at Buffalo Law School, SUNY)
Fertility, Finance, Family Values
Bethany Moreton (University of Georgia)
Discussant: Anthony Prieto (NYU)
Religion, Difference and Conflicta commie in the sweat lodge: marxist materialism and aboriginal spirituality
Peter Kulchyski (University of Manitoba)
Sociopolitical and Religious Violence in the Context of Catholic Hedgemony; The Case of Mexico
Roberto Blancarte (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México)
Discussant: Diana Taylor (NYU)
Long Table Discussion
Sins and Omissions, conceived and created by Lois Weaver, with an introductory performance by Peggy Shaw
Inaugural Reception
Violence Towards One is Violence Towards All, Exhibition of photographs by Moysés Zúñiga Santiago
SCHEDULE: November 5, 2010
Neoliberal Spiritualities
Self-help Literature: New Societies, New Theodicies
Pablo Semán (Colegio de México)
Voices, Bodies, and the Haiti Earthquake: Telethons, Civil Religious Compassion, and Neoliberal Humanitarian Relief
Elizabeth McAlister (Wesleyan)
Discussant: Macarena Gómez-Barris (University of Southern California)
Localizing Public Spheres
Public Culture: Evangelicals and their Presence in Brazilian Society
Emerson Giumbelli (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro)
Media, Devotion and Politics in Brazil: The 2010 Presidential Elections
Leda Martins (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais)
Sexual Rights and Contested Secularisms in Brazil and Mexico
Rafael de la Dehesa (CUNY)
Discussant: Marcial Godoy-Anativia (NYU)
Sex, Bodies and the State
Bodies Unveiled: Theology and Biopolitics in Contemporary Chile
Kemy Oyarzún (University of Chile)
Perverse Justice: Why Sex Matters to War and Peace
Janet Jakobsen (Barnard)
Whose Bodies Are These? Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Bodies as Political Battlefields in Contemporary Mexico
Ana Amuchástegui (Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana)
Discussant: Ann Pellegrini
Plenary Discussion
States of Devotion Cabaret featuring Reverend Billy, Susana Cook and Jesusa Rodríguez