 | ||
Cristián Parker (born 1953) Chilean sociologist, specialist in Latin America's sociology of religion. Ph D. in Sociology, Université Catholique de Louvain and Licentiate in Sociology (Universidad Católica de Chile). Full professor at the Universidad de Santiago de Chile, researcher at the Institute for Advanced Studies (Instituto de Estudios Avanzados), and Director of the Master in Social Sciences with major in Civil Society Studies program. One of his major works is Popular Religion and Modernization in Latin America (Orbis) with Spanish and Portuguese versions.
Contents
Academic background
His academic background includes different universities, such as Universidad Católica de Chile and Université Catholique de Louvain, where he got his training; Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano and Universidad de Santiago de Chile, where he has worked preferentially.
During his academic career he has contributed to the sociology of religion and culture, publishing various works in this field of knowledge. In 1993 he published a book on popular religions and modernization in Latin America, under the title “Otra Lógica en América Latina, Religión popular y modernización capitalista” He has authored or coautored 22 books and 81 book chapters and 91 publications in scientific journals; he has also given conferences in no less than 15 Chilean universities and in 30 universities in America, Europe and Asia (258 presentations or conferences).
He has been Director of the School of Sociology, Dean of Social Science (1989-1995) at the Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano, and then he was Vice-president of Research and Development (2002-2003) and Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies of the Universidad de Santiago de Chile (2005- 2010). He has been a consultant for UNICEF, UNDP, ECLAC, FLACSO-Ecuador, and various public agencies in Chile, among them ministries of Education, of Development and Justice. In addition he has lectured in Research Methodology in the Academia Diplomática de Chile (2004-2012) and the Master's program in Military History and Strategic Thought of the War Academy of the Chilean Army (2004-2015)
Contributions to Sociology
It has been stated that the work of C. Parker enables a complete knowledge of popular culture with an empathic and participative approach on the “culture of the poor”. His contribution to the sociology of religion, underscoring its cultural character, rich in creativity, has led to the reevaluation of lived religion, i.e., to the noninstitutional character of religion. That is why his criticisms of the ecclesiocentric bias of the sociology of western religion have been the subject of relevant publications. According to Roberto Cipriani, Cristián Parker in his work “has analyzed with scientífic rigor the crossing of popular and official culture, revealing congruences and incongruences, points of contact and contrast through theoretical and empirical work made along a trip that has lasted 30 years, aimed at discovering what he calls the “other logic” of popular culture (...). On the other hand, an extensive analysis of the relation between religion and politics from a democratic perspective is not missing". The work of C. Parker is consulted by specialists and those interested in Latin America’s sociocultural and religious evolution.
Professor Parker has contributed to the sociology of development, especially in his analysis of new ways of understanding the relation between culture and development. In particular, he has conducted research on the social representations of social actors challenged by the radical scientific and technological innovations in the context of unequal globalization and on the environmental crisis, climate change, and energy transition in South American societies.
Social commitment
During the time in which Chile was governed under the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, he became an active actor of a Catholic church and of the ecumenical efforts in defense of human rights and the return to democracy. In those days he became committed with the Church's base communities that fought inspired by the Liberation Theology. As the country turned to democracy, and after the Chilean national plebiscite, 1988 and the election of Patricio Aylwin as president of the democratic Concertación, he oriented his life toward academic work. During this time he has contributed in key and strategic issues of the social sciences for the construction of democracy in Chile: development of indigenous people, overcoming poverty, social and political participation of youngsters, ethics and democracy, and the challenges of climate change and sustainable development.
Works
The writings of C. Parker reach 172 works, including books, book chapters,and papers.
Books (author and coauthur
2012 Religión, Política y Cultura en América Latina: Nuevas Miradas. Instituto de Estudios Avanzados – (Editor), Santiago: ACSRM- IDEA. 390 p. ISBN 9789563031454
2010 Parker, C., Estenssoro, F. (Co-ed), El Desafío del Conocimiento para América Latina. Santiago: Explora CONICYT-USACH. 411 p. ISBN 9789568416225
2002 La pobreza desde la perspectiva del desarrollo humano: desafío para las políticas públicas en América Latina. (Autor) Tegucigalpa, Honduras: PNUD. 25 p. ISBN 999266567X
2000 Los jóvenes chilenos, cambios culturales; perspectivas para el siglo XXI, (Autor),Santiago: MIDEPLAN. 197 p. ISBN 9567463719
1998 Ética, Democracia y Desarrollo Humano, (Editor), Santiago: LOM Ediciones, CERC-UAHC. 385 p. ISBN 9562821056
1998 Ética, Cultura y Desarrollo: Alternativa para el siglo XXI, (Autor), Tegucigalpa, Honduras: Subirana. 127 p.
1997 Religión y Postmodernidad, (Autor), Lima: Kairos. 120 p.
1996 Otra Lógica en América latina, Religión popular y modernización capitalista, (Autor), México and Santiago: Fondo de Cultura Económica. 407 p. ISBN 9567083088
1996 Popular Religion and Modernization in Latin America, (Autor), New York: Orbis Books, Maryknoll, 251 p.
1996 Religiäo Popular e Modernizaçao capitalista, (Autor), Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro: Vozes. 349 p.
1992 Parker, C., Aman, K. (Co-ed.), Popular Culture in Chile, Boulder, San Francisco: Westview Press. 225 p.
1992 Parker, C., Salvat, P. (Co-ed.), Formación cívica y política de la juventud, Santiago: Ediciones Ornitorrinco. 163 p.
Noteworthy scientific papers
2015 “" Religion et transition énergétique: une étude en Amérique du Sud" Social Compass, Vol, 62, N°3, September, pp. 344–361. (See paper on line) http://scp.sagepub.com/content/62/3/344.short
2015 “Agua-energía-minería, consumo sustentable y gobernanza: visión de actores estratégicos sudamericanos”. En B. Hogenboom, M Baud, F de Castro, (editores) Gobernanza Ambiental en América Latina, Clacso - Engov: Buenos Aires (see paper on line)
2013 “Elites, Climate Change and Agency in a Developing Society: the Chilean Case”, Environment, Development and Sustainability, Vol 15, Nº5, pp. 1337–1363. ISI (See paper on line)
2008, “Mentalidad religiosa post-ilustrada: creencias y esoterismo en una sociedad en mutuación cultural”, en Aurelio Alonso (ed) América Latina y el Caribe. Territorios religiosos y desafíos para el diálogo, Buenos Aires, CLACSO, Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales (See paper on line)
2008, “Interculturality, Conflicts and Religion: Theoretical Perspectivas”, Social Compass, Vol. 55, No. 3, pp. 316–329. (See paper on line)
2006, “Magico-popular religion' in contemporary society: towards a post-western sociology of religión”, en James A. Beckford, and John Walliss (eds.) Theorising Religion Classical and Contemporary Debates, Hampshire (UK)/Burlington (USA), Ashgate, pp. 60–74.
2002,“Religion and the Awakening of Indigenous People in Latin America", Social Compass, Vol.1, Nº 49, pp. 67–81. (See paper on line)
1998, “Modern Popular Religión, A Complex Object of Study for Sociology”, International Sociology, Vol. 13, No. 2, 195-212. (See paper on line)