Paul Christopher Johnson is Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. He has published many articles on Brazil, the Caribbean, and American popular culture, exploring the relation of religion to social identity, memory, and practice.

Johnson rightly observes that the contemporary meaning and experience of Candomble must come to terms with the widening of the religion from a regional base into a national (and international) status. Significant numbers of non-Afro Brazilian participants are joining and leading terreiro communities and influencing the interpretation and experience of the religion in important ways. Once secret signs and symbols are rapidly moving into the general culture discourse of the Brazilian public sphere, Johnson's book successfully urges us toward this acknowledgement.

Paul Christopher Johnson is Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. He has published many articles on Brazil, the Caribbean, and American popular culture, exploring the relation of religion to social identity, memory, and practice.

Johnson rightly observes that the contemporary meaning and experience of Candomble must come to terms with the widening of the religion from a regional base into a national (and international) status. Significant numbers of non-Afro Brazilian participants are joining and leading terreiro communities and influencing the interpretation and experience of the religion in important ways. Once secret signs and symbols are rapidly moving into the general culture discourse of the Brazilian public sphere, Johnson's book successfully urges us toward this acknowledgement.

Paul Christopher Johnson is Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. He has published many articles on Brazil, the Caribbean, and American popular culture, exploring the relation of religion to social identity, memory, and practice.

Johnson rightly observes that the contemporary meaning and experience of Candomble must come to terms with the widening of the religion from a regional base into a national (and international) status. Significant numbers of non-Afro Brazilian participants are joining and leading terreiro communities and influencing the interpretation and experience of the religion in important ways. Once secret signs and symbols are rapidly moving into the general culture discourse of the Brazilian public sphere, Johnson's book successfully urges us toward this acknowledgement.