Description
How do international organizations and civil society groups interpret the right to freedom of religion or belief in the (Latin)Americas? In this paper, I delve into the conceptualization of “religious freedom” at the Organization of American States (OAS). Firstly, I focus on the resolutions of religious freedom proposed by member states and their evolution over the years. Secondly, I turn to transnational and regional networks in the Americas, in particular, the discourses of religious freedom promoted by civil society groups participating in the Organization of American States (OAS). I argue that, in recent years, there is a tension between the official member states and civil society groups regarding the understanding of the right to freedom of religion or belief in the OAS. While member states and the international organization propose the notion of “religious freedom” merely as an individual human right; civil society groups are arguing that “religious freedom” should be a collective right that recognizes the plurality of religions and beliefs, including indigenous cosmologies and afro-descendant spiritualities. My research draws from interpretive and ethnographical fieldwork in the OAS General Assembly and Summit of the Americas (2017-2022) as well as digital archival work on the resolutions of religious freedom.
