Project description
Exploring the rise of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God
With its headquarters in São Paulo, Brazil, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG) is one of the largest neo-Pentecostal churches in Brazil, with a global reach. Founded by a billionaire evangelical bishop, the UCKG claims more than 12 million members in over 150 countries. It has television networks, radio stations, newspapers and an active presence on social media. The EU-funded KBMSCACAR project will focus on the UCKG to highlight how the interplay between religion and media drives societal and cultural transformations. The project will also demonstrate that there is a radicalised, class-based and gendered process of ‘white acculturation’ occurring within Pentecostalism. Specifically, KBMSCACAR will study how UCKG followers interact with the Church through social media. It will combine analyses of social media with participant observation and in-depth interviews.
Objective
This project has 2 aims, firstly, to demonstrate how the interplay between religion and media is a significant locus for transformations of modern society and culture; and secondly, to demonstrate that there is racialised, class-based and gendered process of ‘white acculturation’ occurring within Pentecostalism which has hitherto been ignored in both Sociological studies of Pentecostalism and Digital Religion Studies. By examining the neo-Pentecostal Universal Church Kingdom of God (UCKG) and the way in which their followers interact with the Church through digital media on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, this project examines the role of race, gender and class, in the construction of Pentecostal identity, both online and offline. I argue that Brazil is a crucial place in which to study the intersections between new media, digital culture, religion and the transformation of modern society and culture, because within its current backdrop of political conflict, gender, race, class and religion have become deeply entwinned. Using the theory of whiteness or ‘white acculturation’: the idea that racism and white supremacy function through a process of political, social, economic, and religious domination rather interpersonal acts of racism, in combination with an intersectional perspective of analysis, I suggest that UCKG Pentecostal identity is expressed online through ways of speaking, learning and experiencing the body through the circulation of images and digital content produced by Bishops and Bishop’s wives, and by their followers. This project therefore asks how gender, whiteness and class intersect in the digital production of UCKG media and how these messages are incorporated and expressed in bodily form by UCKG followers on social media and in the offline world in the construction of their Pentecostal identity. It combines analysis of social media with fieldwork using ethnographic methods of participant observation and in-depth interviews.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2019
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
751 05 Uppsala
Sweden
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.