Public Call for Papers: Religion and Democracy

CALL FOR SCIENTIFIC PAPERS

JOURNAL VIDA Y PENSAMIENTO VOL. 45, N. 1, 2025

Religion and Democracy: Theological Proposals for Confronting Regressive Agendas

At the end of the 20th century, there was hope for the consolidation of some democratic processes in the world, especially in the Latin American and Caribbean context. This was reflected in different advances in issues related to socio-environmental justice, the consolidation of gender equality, intercultural and inter-religious dialogue, and citizen participation in political decision-making and public management. However, the 21st century has shown us that the ideological instruments of the world's dominant power structures have found new strategies to promote regressive agendas. Generally, these strategies use digital technology, social networks, traditional media, political parties and churches to condition public opinion on issues of human rights and socio-environmental justice. This is how we currently encounter policies and practices that, in the name of defending traditional values and beliefs, seek to hinder, reverse or eliminate the gains made by social movements, collectives and faith-based organisations.

In the context of theological education that promotes social critique, and especially from the Latin American and Caribbean theological work, several questions arise that are worth reflecting on biblically, theologically and pastorally: What kind of biblical, theological and/or pastoral approaches can contribute to confronting the current regressive agendas? How is Christian faith challenged in the face of the negative effects of regressive human rights agendas? Is it possible to build a liberating project that manages to integrate Christian faith and civic responsibility in order to stop regressive agendas? These questions reflect the magnitude and relevance of the theme of Religion and Democracy, a theme that can serve as a methodological guide to explore and build knowledge and alternative strategies to those proposed by regressive agendas.

In order for texts to be considered for publication, they must not only meet the academic quality corresponding to the discipline they represent, but must also respond to the editorial standards established by the journal:
Original articles written in Word format or a similar word processor in Times New Roman font.
Adhere to the Chicago style of bibliographic management.
The complete content of the texts should be between 6,000 and 8,000 words.
Each article should have a title, an abstract (in English and Spanish) and five keywords (in English and Spanish), the abstract should be between 150 and 250 words.
The author's details: full name, academic degree, institutional affiliation, religious affiliation (optional), country and e-mail address should be no longer than 50 words.

All texts will be subject to double-blind peer review and should be sent no later than 1 April 2025 to the following email address: publicaciones@ubl.ac.cr

Editorial Board

San José, Costa Rica, January 2025