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Theologies and liberation in Peru: the role of ideas in social movements
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Book Reviews
Empathy and historical imagination can be used to formulate hypotheses, but they do not substitute for data. Imagining what must have happened cannot serve as historical explanation, and here is where Brandon’s account of Cuban Santeria falls short. And herein lies the burden of Brandon’s promised second volume, which we eagerly anticipate. Andrew Apter University of Chicago
Pefia, Milagros (1995) Theologies and Liberation in Peru: the Role of Ideas in Social Movements, Temple University Press (Philadelphia). xii + 222 pp. $35.95 hbk. Much has been written about the emergence of liberation theology, base communities and other manifestations of radicalised Latin American Catholicism. Somewhat less has been penned on the subject of more recent conservative Catholic responses to such phenomena. Equally, theologians and local scientists have both, from their respective vantage points, commented at length upon developments within the Latin American Church without necessarily taking the fullest possible account of each other’s distinctive perspectives. This volume is a brave attempt to present a more rounded or comprehensive picture, albeit one largely confined to the Peruvian experience. Thus it closely inspects both the development of radical Catholicism and more recent conservative rejoinders. Similarly, the author, whilst remaining sensitive to the content and sources of theological debates, sets such debates firmly within their appropriate cultural, local and, above all, political contexts. Indeed, a significant claim which is, for the most part, realistically made on the book’s behalf is that it usefully contributes to wider academic debates about the role of ideas or ideologies in the mobilisation and sustaining of local movements. The basic approach is one which eschews all forms of crude reductionism whilst consistently paying careful heed to the specific settings that may mould ideas or give them a particular resonance. Liberation theology, for example, is treated as a serious phenomenon, in its own right but its power to attract adherents is explained in terms of general developments within Latin American and, particularly, Peruvian society. The same goes for more recent Conservative reactions. The general result is an illuminating and thought provoking analysis that does justice to the realities of the Peruvian setting and the complexities of international Catholicism. A few question marks, or overall reservations, are left standing. Firstly, the more theoretical portions of the work are sometimes characterised by a certain repetitiveness that may obscure more than it clarifies. Whilst the volume does indeed positively contribute to theoretical debates one is nevertheless left with the impression that its author is not altogether confident about the ground upon which she stands. Secondly, the reader is left with no significant clue as to why liberation theology should have its first major exponents in Peru rather than in any other neighbouring countries. The explanation may lie with factors of a largely accidental or contingent kind but the initial question is not addressed in ways likely to make this absolutely plain. Finally, there is perhaps room for a closer look at the respective backgrounds of those Catholics who espoused liberation theology and those who subsequently mobilised in opposition to it. A more extensive interviewing or surveying process might have provided additional relevant and useful insights into the formations, alliances and aspirations of the competing protagonists. Such reservations, however, are to be placed in the context of a monograph, which students of Peruvian politics and of Latin American Catholicism all find stimulating and helpful. Kenneth
Medhurst
University of Bradford
Lovell, W. George (1995) A Beauty that Hurts: Life and Death in Guatemala, Between the Lines Press (Toronto). xiii + 161 pp. $19.95 pbk. The title of this book comes from Oliver La Farge’s and Douglas Byers’ description of the Cuchumatan Highlands of north-western Guatemala as ‘so beautiful it hurt’. In it, geographer W. George Love11 writes as both scholar and humanist to understand the brutality of political repression in Guatemala, its numbing impact on those subjected to it, and its roots in
Book Reviews
Empathy and historical imagination can be used to formulate hypotheses, but they do not substitute for data. Imagining what must have happened cannot serve as historical explanation, and here is where Brandon’s account of Cuban Santeria falls short. And herein lies the burden of Brandon’s promised second volume, which we eagerly anticipate. Andrew Apter University of Chicago
Pefia, Milagros (1995) Theologies and Liberation in Peru: the Role of Ideas in Social Movements, Temple University Press (Philadelphia). xii + 222 pp. $35.95 hbk. Much has been written about the emergence of liberation theology, base communities and other manifestations of radicalised Latin American Catholicism. Somewhat less has been penned on the subject of more recent conservative Catholic responses to such phenomena. Equally, theologians and local scientists have both, from their respective vantage points, commented at length upon developments within the Latin American Church without necessarily taking the fullest possible account of each other’s distinctive perspectives. This volume is a brave attempt to present a more rounded or comprehensive picture, albeit one largely confined to the Peruvian experience. Thus it closely inspects both the development of radical Catholicism and more recent conservative rejoinders. Similarly, the author, whilst remaining sensitive to the content and sources of theological debates, sets such debates firmly within their appropriate cultural, local and, above all, political contexts. Indeed, a significant claim which is, for the most part, realistically made on the book’s behalf is that it usefully contributes to wider academic debates about the role of ideas or ideologies in the mobilisation and sustaining of local movements. The basic approach is one which eschews all forms of crude reductionism whilst consistently paying careful heed to the specific settings that may mould ideas or give them a particular resonance. Liberation theology, for example, is treated as a serious phenomenon, in its own right but its power to attract adherents is explained in terms of general developments within Latin American and, particularly, Peruvian society. The same goes for more recent Conservative reactions. The general result is an illuminating and thought provoking analysis that does justice to the realities of the Peruvian setting and the complexities of international Catholicism. A few question marks, or overall reservations, are left standing. Firstly, the more theoretical portions of the work are sometimes characterised by a certain repetitiveness that may obscure more than it clarifies. Whilst the volume does indeed positively contribute to theoretical debates one is nevertheless left with the impression that its author is not altogether confident about the ground upon which she stands. Secondly, the reader is left with no significant clue as to why liberation theology should have its first major exponents in Peru rather than in any other neighbouring countries. The explanation may lie with factors of a largely accidental or contingent kind but the initial question is not addressed in ways likely to make this absolutely plain. Finally, there is perhaps room for a closer look at the respective backgrounds of those Catholics who espoused liberation theology and those who subsequently mobilised in opposition to it. A more extensive interviewing or surveying process might have provided additional relevant and useful insights into the formations, alliances and aspirations of the competing protagonists. Such reservations, however, are to be placed in the context of a monograph, which students of Peruvian politics and of Latin American Catholicism all find stimulating and helpful. Kenneth
Medhurst
University of Bradford
Lovell, W. George (1995) A Beauty that Hurts: Life and Death in Guatemala, Between the Lines Press (Toronto). xiii + 161 pp. $19.95 pbk. The title of this book comes from Oliver La Farge’s and Douglas Byers’ description of the Cuchumatan Highlands of north-western Guatemala as ‘so beautiful it hurt’. In it, geographer W. George Love11 writes as both scholar and humanist to understand the brutality of political repression in Guatemala, its numbing impact on those subjected to it, and its roots in