The Mobilization of Religious and Nonreligious Imaginaries in Argentine Sexual Politics

Abstract

In a context where society is becoming less Catholic and more diverse, Argentina’s sexual politics presents the opportunity to explore the ways in which the social imaginaries regarding religion and nonreligion are contested. Based on qualitative data from in-depth interviews, documents, and websites analysis, this chapter focuses on the political mobilization of both religious and nonreligious imaginaries by those in favor of legalizing abortion during 2018 public debates. Particularly we consider two mobilizations: The Collective Apostasy Campaign—called “Not in my name”—and the main strategies of Catholics for Choice (Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir). Both mobilizations interpellate an ongoing growing segment of Argentina’s society that questioned the interference of Catholic Church and other religious actors in public debates. Both, also, advance in creating new political subjectivities: the Catholic dissident and the apostate. Through this analysis we discuss the complexity of religious and nonreligious imaginaries as central elements in contemporary sexual politics in Argentina.