Secularisms, national states and politics of recognition: comparing the processes of regulation and the demands for recognition of ayahuasca groups in Brazil and in the USA

• Grant number: 15/15855-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): January 04, 2016
• Effective date (End): January 03, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Anthropology
• Principal Investigator: Paula Montero
• Grantee: Henrique Fernandes Antunes
• Supervisor: Saba Mahmood
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Research place: University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 13/24663-9 - The use of ayahuasca as a public problem: a comparison between the cases of Brazil and the United States, BP.DR

Abstract

The global widespread of ayahuasca churches is demanding many countries to consider the claims for religious recognition of ayahuasca groups, as well as the implications of the possible regulation or prohibition ayahuasca tea. Such processes are reaching a wide international scale, reverberating questions concerning religious freedom, minority rights, the consumption and trafficking of psychoactive substances, public health and safety, among other issues surrounding the debate on the use of ayahuasca. Therefore, the aim of the research is to focus on the relations between secularism, national states and recognition politics in Brazil and in the USA through the analysis of the regulation processes of ayahuasca tea for religious purposes and the demands of ayahuasca groups for legal recognition as religions. (AU)