Satya R. Pattnayak is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Villanova University.

• Chapter 1 Social Change, Political Competition, and Religious Innovation in Latin America: An Introduction Chapter 2 Religious Change, Empowerment and Power: Reflections on Latin American Experience Chapter 3 The Transformation of Catholic Social Thought in Latin America: Christian Democracy, Liberation Theology, and the New Catholic Right Chapter 4 The Chilean Church and the Transition to Democracy Chapter 5 From Theologies of Liberation to Theologies of Inculturation: Aymara Catechists and the Second Evangelization in Highlands Bolivia Chapter 6 Religious Competition in Contemporary Venezuela Chapter 7 Brazil: State Subsidization and the Church Since 1930 Chapter 8 Latin American Politics: Exit the Catholic Church? Chapter 9 The Embeddedness of Religion and Politics: An Epilogue Chapter 10 Appendix: The Institutional Capacity of the Catholic Church: An Evaluation; Select Bibliography Chapter 11 Contributors Chapter 12 Index

The present volume serves as a useful corrective to the flood of impressionistic works and reflects the increasing maturation of the field...it provides a solid basis for understanding the actual role of religion, and particularly the Catholic Church,in contemporary Latin America...[the book] provides not only a realistic view of the role of religion in contemporary Latin America, but also a healthy critique of much of the literature in the field.