| Christian base communities (CEBs) are grassroots groups organized to promote local religious and socio-economic development. They grew in Managua in the context of Catholic Church reforms, mobilization against the Somoza dictatorship, and the Sandinista Revolution. This dissertation addresses the role of CEBs in the Revolution focusing on two Managuan working-class barrios. It is based on fieldwork during 1989 when the Sandinistas were in power, and in 1991, a year after they had left power.; Though small groups, CEBs form the core of a social movement, the "Church of the poor," that comprises laity and clergy who support the Revolution. As part of the Catholic Church, they seek to add a religious dimension to the Revolution, and a revolutionary dimension to the Church. Their blend of Marxism, Sandinista nationalism, and progressive Catholicism appropriates a rich stock of symbols from Nicaraguan history and popular religion, most notably martyrdom and motherhood. I illustrate this use of symbols in Managua's patron saint and Immaculate Conception festivals, and in the attempt to create new forms of pilgrimage, vigils, and music. Thereby, the Church of the poor seeks to transform a perceived mystified popular religion into a religion of liberation.; Yet liberation for CEBs signifies material as well as spiritual empowerment of the poor: socio-economic development and severing dependency and authoritarianism. The CEBs in this study have promoted credit cooperatives, soy projects, and alternative medicine in their barrios. This participation in the Sandinista revolutionary process placed them in conflict with the Nicaraguan Catholic Church. Tied to waning Sandinista legitimacy and, ironically, ossifying into a religious elite distanced from the grassroots, their attempt to create a religion of liberation failed. Nonetheless, they have succeeded in facilitating grassroots democratic participation through their concrete organizing and development efforts. By 1991, these CEBs had become more autonomous from elite political and theological structures. Along with other civic movements, they were involved in struggles over health, education, work, and housing issues.; This dissertation provides a unique glimpse into the processes of socio-cultural change and democratic participation, and their limits, in the cauldron of revolutionary transformation. |
