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 | | The Soul of Development: Biblical Christianity and Economic Transformation in Guatemala (Religion in America) by Amy L. Sherman ISBN-10: 9780195106718 ISBN-10: 0-19-510671-7 ISBN-13: 9780195106718 ISBN-13: 978-0-19-510671-8 Hardcover 1997-05-01 Oxford University Press, USA Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Product Description Ever since Max Weber started an argument about the role of Protestantism in jump-starting northern Europe's economic development, scholars have clashed over the influence of religion and culture on a society's (or an individual's) economic prospects. Today, many wonder whether the "explosion" of Protestantism in Latin America will effect a similar wave of growth and democratization. In this book, Sherman compiles the results of her field study and national survey of 1000 rural Guatemalan households. She offers persuasive evidence that, in Guatemala and throughout the region, religious world-views significantly influence economic life. Sherman explains how the change in attitude and behavior that accompanies conversion from animism to a Biblically orthodox world-view has improved the domestic welfare and economic status of many families. Further, she asserts that this new attitude, sympathetic to democratic-capitalism, has created a "moral cultural soil" in which freedom, personal empowerment, an enhanced status for women, and a desire to get ahead can be nurtured. | ||
Reviews | ||
A crumby piece of unabashedly propaghandistic clabtrap Sherman is so ideocentric and intellectually spineless that it I can't get over the fact that this wasn't written over a hundred years ago. | ||
Inside out and bottoms up... A new evangelical voice is emerging that is describing social transformation through a culture-and-development paradigm that emphasizes primarily (although not exclusively) a personal dimension. Through her research in Guatemala, Dr. Amy Sherman has demonstrated that transformation is an inside-out, bottom-up phenomenon. Sherman argues that the societal transformation in Guatemala has proceeded from the large number of conversions from Christo-paganism to orthodox Christianity. An orthodox Christian worldview, Sherman explains, has been a catalyst for social transformation because it recognizes the value of the individual to make choices (toward sobriety, marital fidelity, and thrift) and reap the socioeconomic benefits. In this unique country where evangelicals are an estimated 25% of the population, the actions of a significant amount of people making personal life changes has been felt at a societal level. Even secular critics note that evangelicalism, with its strong orientation toward the individual, has been positively correlated with to economic improvement, rising levels of education, and democracy. Highly recommended. | ||