Study of Religion in Brazil: An Essay toward the Assertion of Autonomy and the Expansion of its Practical Horizon of Action

Abstract

The study of religion in Brazil is facing its first emancipatory moment as a body of knowledge by composing, with theology, a new area of evaluation in the Brazilian Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel. As a part of this newly developed area, the scientific study of religion faces the challenges of asserting itself as an autonomous discipline apart from other sciences and expanding the professionalization of its proponents beyond teaching. It is necessary for the scientific study of religion to disseminate its epistemological status in a clear and definite manner, thus creating space for the application of its research and knowledge production. This study proposes an affirmative reflection on Brazilian religious studies as an autonomous discipline. We also assert the scientific value this field brings to contemporary Brazilian resolutions toward research that directly involves human subjects. Additionally, this paper suggests that regional observatories of religious phenomena are implemented to map and analyze religious developments for the purposes of providing advice and services to religious, civil, and public organizations.