Religious world‐view and environment in the Sertão of North‐East Brazil

Philosophy and Geography 2 (1):55 – 79 (1999)
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Abstract

The importance of religious cosmology for environmental ethics is explored in a case-study of enchanted and disenchanted world-views in the Sert o of North-east Brazil. Popular Catholicism is shown to have retained an enchanted world-view of humans interacting with saints, souls and animist spirits. In order to differentiate themselves from Catholics, evangelical Protestants pursue a disenchanted view of the natural environment but hold a highly supernatural view of human society. Afro-Brazilian cult members are Catholics who graft an enchanted view of human society on to an enchanted view of nature, producing a hyper-enchanted world-view. The relationship between religious world-view, agricultural modernisation, deforestation and social disparity is evaluated, showing how the process of disenchantment has been highly uneven with the selective elimination of certain enchanted beliefs alongside the persistence of others and their re-adaptation to the contemporary needs of the local population

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reprint Hoefle, Scott William (1999) "Religious World-view and Environment in the Sertão of North-east Brazil". Ethics, Place and Environment 2(1):55-79

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Radical Ecology.Carolyn Merchant - 1994 - Science and Society 58 (1):120-123.
Tongues of Fire.[author unknown] - 1931 - The Monist 41 (3):475-475.
Studies in Religious Fundamentalism.Lional Caplan - 1989 - Religious Studies 25 (2):250-252.

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