Igreja brasileira encontra sucesso em Angola: política externa iurdiana e estratégia do estado angolano (1991-2017)

Abstract

The beginning of the activities of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG) in Angolan territory dates back to 1991, a time of détente in the civil conflict in Angola. However, only after 2002 when the civil war ended that is a UCKG begins to take root in the country, since the church is inserted in the national reconstruction project taken by the State. In this way, the research is oriented by the question what factors determine the social insertion of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God in Angola? From which we present a hypothesis that: the social insertion of the UCKG in Angola occurs by (i) management the foreign policy of the church, here called UCKG’s foreign policy; and (ii) the strategy of renewing the legitimacy of the Angolan State, where the political elite uses the popularization of the IURD to raise legitimacy. This process results in a symbiotic relationship between State and church, and, consequently, in the rooting of the Universal Church in Angola. The work is justified in the attempt to demonstrate a social and academic importance of understanding of religiosity in the discipline of International Relations, as well as to understand the attitude and behavior of the foreign policy of a Brazilian church, in this case, that of the Universal Church in Angola. Similarly, we intend to analyze the strategy of the Angolan political elite in its approach to the church, understanding that the resulting symbiotic relationship between both provides legitimacy to the state. Therefore, we propose a case study with a hypotheticaldeductive approach and a bibliographical and documentary research technique.