Religion, Migration and Gender Strategies: Brazilian (Catholic and Evangelical) Missionaries in Barcelona

Abstract

This article reflects on gender strategies developed by Brazilian Pentecostalmissionaries linked to the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and the evangelicalUniversal Church of the Kingdom of God/United Family, in the city of Barcelona,Spain. From a comparative study of the daily life of the missionaries, thepaper discusses how ‘feminized’ and ‘manly’ character, respectively, defineimportant boundaries between Catholic charismatic and Evangelical groups.The ethnographic data demonstrate how certain religious particularitiesof immigrants can act as a source of social differentiation that highlightsopportunities and specific doctrinal strategies for women and men, in thecontext of diaspora.