Research on the role of the Prosperity Gospel in shaping Latin American immigrants’ identities

Dr. Antonio Montañes Jimenez (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Spain) travelled to the University of Miami (USA) to advance his postdoctoral research on religion and migration by investigating the development of religious flows between the United States and Spain.

This Short-Term Scientific Mission (STSM), funded by the COST Action COREnet, aimed to examine the role of the Prosperity Gospel in shaping Latin American immigrants’ identities, aspirations, and sense of belonging in Miami (USA) and Madrid (Spain). Moreover, this research interrogates the role of religion in spreading individualist values as well as neoliberal and entrepreneurship ideals through pro-market interpretations of biblical principles.

Dr. Antonio Montañes Jimenez project engages with ongoing academic conversations regarding the dynamics of religious expansion in a globalising world and the connection between migration, class and social aspirations, and Christianity. The findings of the research will help to foster research on how religious phenomena originated in non-European countries and shape the development of religious innovation, adaptation and expansion of Christian churches in Spain.

What is a Short-Term Scientific Mission (STSM) within COREnet?

A Short-Term Scientific Mission, funded by the COST Action COREnet, consists of a visit to a host organization located in a different country to the country of affiliation of a Researcher in order to carry out specific work as part of a research project. In addition to research purposes, Short Term Scientific Missions (STSMs) are aimed to support researchers’ individual mobility, to strengthen existing networks and to foster collaboration between individuals. The purpose of a STSM is thus to gain new partnerships, to learn new techniques and to gain access to specific data, instruments and/or methods not available in their own institutions/organizations.