Pastores evangélicos em Maranguape: trajetórias e formas de atuação na esfera pública

Abstract

This work investigates the trajectories of a group of evangelical pastors in the city of Maranguape in order to understand the meaning underlying their actions. To this end, the guiding research question was: “How do evangelical pastors in the city of Maranguape construct their role in public life?” Theoretically, the study draws on Bourdieu’s sociology of fields, with particular emphasis on the religious field, but also other key concepts such as field, habitus, and trajectory. Methodologically, the notion of trajectory emerged as a relevant analytical category to interpret the internalization process of a sense of vocation and the perceived need for public protagonism. This process was based on the analysis of three narrative interviews, eight field observations, and examined materials published on the social media platforms of the churches. The pastors’ narratives made it possible to carry out a theoretical typification of their experiences, which led to the identification of two main forms of public engagement: protagonism through charitable initiatives and protagonism through involvement and interference in institutional politics. In this regard, the research engages with authors such as Burity (2011) and Amy Erica Smith (2022), in order to shed light on the sociopolitical conditions shaping the pastors’ actions. Ultimately, it is worth noting that the pastors’ presence in the public sphere emerged as contested arena, as they seek to preserve a specific pastoral habitus.