On Pluralism and Multiculturalism: a Comparative Case Study of Brazil and Canada

• Grant number: 19/11202-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: November 01, 2019
• End date: October 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Anthropology
• Principal Investigator: Ronaldo Romulo Machado de Almeida
• Grantee: Henrique Fernandes Antunes
• Host Institution: Centro Brasileiro de Análise e Planejamento (CEBRAP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 15/02497-5 - Religion, law and secularism: a new civic repertoire in Contemporary Brazil, AP.TEM
• Associated scholarship(s): 22/11775-2 - On reasonable accommodation: the regulation of the religious use of ayahuasca in Canada, BE.EP.PD 21/11399-8 - The construction of religion as cultural heritage: the heritage of ayahuasca as a public problem, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

The focus of this research project is to compare Canadian multiculturalism and Brazilian pluralism as two different modes of governance. The starting point is the hypothesis that pluralism in Brazil has a particular configuration, presenting itself as a sui generis case. Thus, we turn our attention to an analysis of the arguments regarding the patrimonialization processes in Brazil, and the disputes surrounding the notion of "reasonable accommodations" in Canada as privileged cases for thinking about Brazilian pluralism and Canadian multiculturalism. The objective of this comparison is to allow us to outline the particularities of pluralism in Brazil, and its political, social and cultural implications for the current configuration of secularism in the country. The research will also enable us to think about connections between law, culture and religion, as well as the appropriation of legal vocabulary and grammar by a variety of actors and institutions making claims in the name of civic rights in Brazil and Canada. In a broader perspective, the research aims to contribute to a comparative approach concerning the issue of religious diversity in two different historical contexts.