Evangelicalism and Peripheral Capitalism in Contemporary Chile: From Inner-Worldly Asceticism to The Prosperity Theology

Abstract

This paper presents the possibilities of extrapolation regarding Max Weber’s theory on the relationship between Protestantism and capitalism within the framework of relations between contemporary Chilean Evangelical Christianity and peripheral capitalism. The literature has approached the subject tangentially, since, although some links have been suggested, there are few systematic studies that test the Weberian hypothesis in a Latin American and Chilean context. The essay presents the most promising study perspectives in light of the theoretical and empirical considerations analyzed. One of the most suggestive socio-historical research fields is operationalized in the link between the prosperity theology (neo-Pentecostalism) and neoliberalism in Contemporary Chile. Beyond their evident historical-theological differences (Calvinism and Neo-Pentecostalism), both religious phenomena legitimize capitalism from a cultural ideological point of view, as a mode of production that requires being internalized at the subjects’ motivation level. From this type of research, it is possible to clarify the link between idealistic (cultural emphasis) and materialistic (techno-economic emphasis) interpretations of historical change processes.