Latino Immigrants in the New South

The Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Florida has completed a three-year Ford Foundation-funded research project focusing on lived religion among Brazilian, Guatemalan, and Mexican immigrants in Florida that began Jan. 1, 2003. Ford has funded the Departments of Political Science and Religion to conduct the second phase of the project, beginning January 1, 2007.

The first phase, entitled "Latino Immigrants in Florida: Lived Religion, Space and Power", began with two main areas of exploration into the trajectories and transnational experiences of the immigrants: the roles played by religious narratives, practices and environments and the relations among religion, the politics of place, empowerment and disempowement.

The second phase, entitled "Latin American Immigrants in the New South: Religion and the Politics of Encounter", extends to the metropolitan area of Atlanta, allowing for comparative analyses at the level of the New South, focusing on inter-ethnic and racial relations in the communities of reception.

Project summaries: