Catholicism and Politics in Argentina, 1810-1960. Palgrave Macmillan, Macmillan Distribution (MDL) [distributor],. McClelland & Stewart Inc [distributor],. Booksite Afrika [distributor],. Pan Macmillan South Africa [distributor],. Palgrave (Macmillan's gl

A rare study of Catholicism in Latin-American politics prior to Vatican II, this work examines the role of Catholics and Catholic theology in the development of Argentine political history. The author challenges standard interpretations in arguing that Argentine authoritarianism derives principally from the Enlightenment offshoots of liberalism and popular nationalism. The author argues that the tension between these strains, and a broad humanistic cultural framework informed by the Catholic tradition, helps to explain Argentine political instability, while shedding new light on leaders and movements, and especially Peronism. A rare study of Catholicism in Latin American politics prior to Vatican II, this book presents a broad and powerfully argued challenge to standard interpretations of Argentine political history through an examination of the tensions between Enlightenment ideologies and the Catholic tradition. Drawing on extensive first-hand research in Argentina and on wide reading in European history, politics and theology, the author traces the competition between liberalism and popular nationalism on the one hand, and the humanistic scholasticism informed by Catholic theology on the other. Particular emphasis is placed on the period 1930-60, when a broadly based religious revival challenged the assumptions of the Liberal Order and entered into an intense but competitive relationship with nationalism. The author shows that only by recognizing this competition can the popularity of Peronism, and subsequently its dictatorial tendencies, be fully understood. The study concludes with some suggested explanations both of the fragility of Argentine liberal democracy and of the Enlightenment roots of political authoritarianism. This is a clearly argued and forceful contribution to Latin American politics and to differing religious and secular concepts of liberty, authority and justice in the western cultural tradition. Front Matter....Pages i-xiv Introduction....Pages 1-35 Front Matter....Pages 37-37 Scholasticism and Secularism, 1810–1920....Pages 39-72 The Catholic Revival, 1920s–1950s....Pages 73-99 Front Matter....Pages 101-101 Catholicism and Nationalism, 1930–1939....Pages 103-122 War, Crisis and Military Intervention, 1939–1944....Pages 123-142 Catholicism and Peronism, 1945–1954....Pages 143-174 Ecclesia contra Peronum, 1954–1955....Pages 175-182 Secularism Revisited, 1955–1960....Pages 183-202 Conclusion....Pages 203-212 Back Matter....Pages 213-275 A study of Latin American politics prior to Vatican II, which examines the role of Catholics and Catholic theology in the development of Argentine political history. The book asserts that Argentine authoritarianism derives from the Enlightenment offshoots of liberalism and popular nationalism.