Latino Immigrants and their Perceptions of Religious Institutions: Cubans, Salvadorans and Guatemalans in Phoenix, Arizona

Resumen

Basado en trabajo de campo cualitativo y entrevistas con 54 inmigrantes, este artículo compara el lugar que ocupan las instituciones religiosas en las vidas de los inmigrantes guatemaltecos, salvadoreños y cubanos en Phoenix, Arizona. La iglesia siempre ha ocupado un lugar destacado en las vidas de los inmigrantes, pero no todos —ni siquiera todos los latinos— comparten las mismas visiones y experiencias. Las diferencias más notables se presentan entre los cubanos, por un lado, y los salvadoreños y guatemaltecos, por otro. Este ensayo muestraque para los inmigrantes el lugar de las instituciones religiosas y sus actividades están íntimamente ligados a los contextos de salida en sus países de origen y de destino en los Estados Unidos. ABSTRACTBased on qualitative fieldwork and interviews with 54 immigrants, this article compares the place that religious institutions occupy in the lives of Guatemalan, Salvadoran, and Cuban immigrants in Phoenix, Arizona. The church has always occupied a prominent place in the lives of immigrants, but not all groups —not even all Latinos— share the same views or experiences. The sharpest differences are between the Cubans, on the one hand, and the Salvadorans and Guatemalans, on the other. This article demonstrates that, for immigrants, the place of religious institutions and their activities are intimately linked to the broader contexts of exit from their countries of origin and arrival in the United States.

Imagen de portada

Palabras clave

• migración internacional
• iglesia
• religión
• América Latina
• Phoenix

Cómo citar

Citas

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