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Living Religion Transnationally Among Brazilian Migrants in London and 'Back Home' in Brazil Sheringham, Olivia

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Living Religion Transnationally Among Brazilian Migrants in London and 'Back Home' in Brazil Sheringham, Olivia 'Thanks to London and to God': living religion transnationally among Brazilian migrants in London and 'back home' in Brazil Sheringham, Olivia The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author For additional information about this publication click this link. http://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/jspui/handle/123456789/2439 Information about this research object was correct at the time of download; we occasionally make corrections to records, please therefore check the published record when citing. For more information contact [email protected] 'Thanks to London and to God': living religion transnationally among Brazilian migrants in London and 'back home' in Brazil Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Olivia Sheringham School of Geography Queen Mary, University of London September 2011 Declaration I hereby declare that the work presented in this thesis is entirely my own. Signed ……………………………………………………. Olivia Sheringham 2 Abstract This thesis explores the role of religion in the everyday, transnational lives of Brazilian migrants in London and on their return to Brazil. It contributes to an emerging body of work that recognises the importance of religion within transnational processes and foregrounds the experiences of Brazilians in London, a growing yet still largely invisible new migrant group in London. While the study explores the role of religious institutions in the transnational lives of Brazilian migrants, it works with the notion of religion as lived experience to give due weight to the perspectives of migrants themselves. It examines the ways in which migrants negotiate their religious beliefs and practices in different places and create new connections between them. The study draws on a qualitative methodological framework, which included 78 in-depth interviews with Brazilian migrants in London and on their return to Brazil, religious leaders, and migrants’ family members. It also involved extended participant observation in one Catholic and one evangelical Protestant church in London, as well as at community events and in migrants’ domestic spaces in London and five ‘sending’ towns in Brazil. Empirically, the project reveals some of the ways in which religion functions transnationally through examining how religious institutions and their leaders adapt to new contexts, and how religion becomes a crucial resource for migrants at all stages of their migration experience, including on their return. With reference to migrants’ own stories, it explores the ways that they draw on religion to cope with particular challenges related to migration, but also how engagement with the spiritual enables migrants to give meaning to their experiences. The thesis develops the concept of transnational religious spaces to highlight the ways in which religion permeates the spaces of transnationalism and functions within and across multiple scales, including the global, the local, the institutional, the individual, the corporeal and the virtual. These spaces incorporate those who migrate, those who return ‘back home’, and migrants’ families who experience the absence of their loved ones. Yet while transnational religious spaces can enable migrants to create alternative spaces of belonging, I argue that they can also be exclusionary, creating new barriers at the same time as opening up existing ones. I also propose a related concept of religious remittances whereby changing religious practices and beliefs are transferred across borders, adapting to new contexts. 3 Acknowledgements I am greatly indebted to many people who have inspired, supported and put up with me at various stages in the production of this thesis, and to whom I express my deepest gratitude. I would especially like to thank Dr. Cathy McIlwaine for her unstinting support and guidance throughout the process. Not only has her depth of knowledge and research experience never ceased to inspire and challenge me, but I will also always value her kindness, enthusiasm and generosity of spirit. I am also infinitely grateful to Professor Jon May for his constructive and insightful comments on several drafts of the thesis and throughout my research. Funding for this study was provided by the ESRC with an additional fieldwork grant from the Society of Latin American Studies, for which I am very grateful. The research would never have come about without the invaluable input of all those who participated in this study through generously sharing their time and stories with me. I am extremely grateful to the leaders and members of St Mary’s, the CEL and the CEBH and to all the research participants who welcomed me into their churches, workplaces and homes. I wish to especially thank Ana-Carla, Michelle and Cleverson in London; and Geraldo, Odete, Sheila, Michel, Graça, Jesus and Irmã Rosita in Brazil. I also wish to thank Sueli Siqueira, Maria Geralda Almeida and Beatriz Padilla for welcoming me to their research centres and for their encouragements and insights for my project. A special thanks also to my dear friends and co-members of GEB, Ana, Graça, Yara, Cleverson, Tania and Gustavo for the inspiring discussions about Brazilian migration, for patiently helping me with my Portuguese and for making me truly appreciate the value of teamwork. I would also like to thank colleagues in the School of Geography at Queen Mary. I am grateful to Ed Oliver, Helen McLurg, Marta Timoncini and Jennifer Murray in particular for their support with the practicalities of the project; and to Claire Thompson, Camille Aznar, Evelyn Owen, Mara Ferreri, Natalie Savona, Francesco Salvini, Imogen Wallace, Tim Heinemann and Kate Hardy for providing a supportive, stimulating and enjoyable environment to work in. I am eternally grateful for the support of my family and friends. Thank you to Sam and Jane for their enthusiasm and generosity, and especially thanks to little Eva for providing a constant source of joy. I would also like to thank Emma and Sarah for 4 always reassuring me and providing welcome distractions. I wish to express a special thank you to James who has patiently endured the upheavals that this project has brought about over the last three years and lovingly supported me throughout. Finally, I wish to thank my parents for their unabated support, encouragement and inspiration. I dedicate this to them. 5 Table of contents Abstract ......................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements ......................................................................................... 4 Table of contents ........................................................................................... 6 Figures, tables and plates .............................................................................. 8 Acronyms ....................................................................................................... 9 Glossary ....................................................................................................... 10 Chapter 1. Introduction ............................................................................... 11 Brazilians as a new migrant community in a ‘super-diverse’ city ........................... 13 Transnationalism and migrants’ religious trajectories ............................................. 15 Positioning the research and its objectives .............................................................. 17 Outline of the thesis ................................................................................................. 19 Chapter 2. A lived religion approach to migration ........................................ 23 Religion and globalisation ....................................................................................... 25 Mapping the geographies of religion ....................................................................... 35 Transnationalism, diaspora, belonging .................................................................... 41 Religion, transnationalism and everyday life ........................................................... 54 Concluding remarks ................................................................................................. 71 Chapter 3. Researching religion, migration and transnationalism: towards a methodological framework .......................................................................... 73 Methodological underpinnings for a new field of enquiry ...................................... 73 Methodological framework ...................................................................................... 85 Ethical considerations and some reflections on ‘doing’ the research .................... 100 Concluding remarks ............................................................................................... 106 Chapter 4. Diverse religious trajectories: Transnational migration between Brazil and London ...................................................................................... 107 Leaving Brazil ........................................................................................................ 109 Brazilians turn towards Europe .............................................................................. 116 ‘In search of a better life’: a profile of Brazilians in the UK ................................. 117 ‘Deus é Brasileiro’: religion in Brazil ...................................................................
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