Abstract

WELSCH, Denise. Between cosmologies and contexts. Reflections on the localization processes of a transnational movement. Soc. relig. [online]. 2022, vol.32, n.60, pp.2-2. ISSN 0326-9795.

This article explores the insertion into new social contexts of a transnational religious movement, the Argentinian branch of the Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai International. Aspects such as the construction of legitimacy, social regulation, and the presence of religions in public spheres will be considered. I will address this issue by reflecting about the reaction to specific social disputes: the rise of women rights movements and the outbreak of the COVID 19 pandemic. Considering Soka Gakkai´s peripheral position in the Argentinian social religious field, I will argue that its reactions intend to obtain more visibility and social legitimacy, by aligning its own cosmological ideas with those gaining more social acceptance. This continuity will be analyzed as part of what I will call a localization process, which I define as the full, conscious, insertion of a transnational movement in the host society. This paper is based on my ethnographic field work among Soka Gakkai members.

Keywords : Buddhism; transnationalization; localization; legitimacy.