THE EVANGELICAL CONDITION OF GLOBALIZATION AND THE POLITICAL-SPATIAL STRATEGY OF THE UNIVERSAL DO REINO DE DEUS

Abstract

The purpose of this text is to reflect on the expression of Pentecostal Evangelical from Brazil. It is hypothesized that Pentecostalism is an American social manifestation, associated with the spatial qualities of the current globalization, which the generalized urbanization of society is its condition. A globalization that has been intensified since the end of the 20th century, starting with America and its capitalist model. Sustained by the hyper production of needs and goods that overflows consumption, this American model expanded urbanization everywhere and spread entrepreneurial values and behaviors in a surprising way, mainly due to the imposition of deregulation of the economy and of work. Organized in three parts, this article begins by presenting some conceptual references on the current globalization and its association with urbanization. Then, data about the urban today are brought here to locate Brazil in this context. The third part is dedicated to Pentecostal Evangelical, especially to the study of the spatial dynamics of one of its branches, the Universal neo-Pentecostal church of the Kingdom of God: an eminently Brazilian creation, which was born in the Rio de Janeiro suburb, in 1977, extended to the world. Mixing faith and politics and associating traditional and modern forms and strategies of diffusion, Universal is an excellent example of these new social manifestations of globalization along American lines.