The ecumenism and the logic of the market

Abstract

In this article, the aim was to discuss the transition between two perspectives related to the way the theme of cooperation between ecclesiastical institutions or between religions has been articulated, namely, the ecumenical perspective in the 20th century and interreligious dialogue in the 21st century. In the second half of the 20th century, the ecumenical cause in Brazil and Latin America was a movement associated with popular struggles for liberation. It was committed to revolutionary processes, the pursuit of political and economic autonomy for nations, and, finally, the pro-democratization movements in the region. In a world ideologically polarized between East and West, ecumenism became an identity flag that viewed the unity of peoples as necessary for liberation processes. The 21st century brings another perspective: the focus is no longer on unity among churches but rather on dialogue between religions. This dialogue emerges in the context of democratic achievements and, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, in the overcoming of a polarized world divided between East and West. The aim of this analysis, and its raison d’être, is to understand the changes in the macro-political and economic landscape and how they have impacted and rendered obsolete the way ecumenism was proposed sixty years ago, leading to its replacement by reflections on interreligious dialogue. The critique of documents and the intellectual production of the ecumenical movement of that time, in contrast with current perspectives on relations between churches, allows us to outline the transitional profile between the two perspectives. Emic productions from the religious field of that time were compared with those of today. Sociologists whose analytical perspective adopts economic language and categories, such as Peter Berger and Pierre Bourdieu, enable a consequential analysis of this transition. While ecumenism was based on a political perspective in the context of the Cold War, interreligious dialogue is seen as an ethical imperative for churches in a pluralistic context, in which each religion behaves as an economic agent (BOURDIEU, P., 1982, p. 57) competing for followers.