Reflections about the «theory of the catholic ghetto» in a secular Uruguay

Abstract

The renewed perspective about the concept of secularization promoted in recent years by various social scientists —particularly historians and sociologists— has questioned the classical interpretation as an irreversible and univocal process whose final goal was the disappearance of religion or its retreat into the private area. Instead, among other issues, the multidimensional nature of the concept has been raised, emphasizing the reconstruction of the religious field through a new relationship dynamic between the public space, the faithful and "the others" (liberal, socialist, anarchist, etc). This theoretical renewal allowed new readings to be made on the process itself in Uruguay, and to question various approaches, many of them deeply rooted in local historiography, such as the “Catholic ghetto theory”. The present article intends to reflect on this concept and how it permeated the historiographic interpretations of the role of Catholicism —the Church and the faithful— in a secular Uruguay.