Faith and crime in the "quebrada": Pentecostalism and PCC in the construction of sociability in the outskirts of São Paulo

Abstract

In this paper we look at the coexistence, in the same urban environment, of seemingly disparate phenomena such as Pentecostalism on one side, and on the other the organized crime and violence as its modus operandi, two of the expressions of sociability and identity in the outskirts of the metropolis. In this context the concept of conversion needs to be revised given its ineffectiveness to understanding social and religious processes experienced by the populations of the suburbs. In these neighborhoods, be Pentecostal is not necessarily a lifestyle choice that precludes participation in a criminal organization like the Primeiro Comando da Capital, PCC. The article is divided into two topics: first, we made a brief survey of studies that work with the different ways in which religion and violence make some interfaces. After we tried to present our empirical observations about a Pentecostal community in which a PCC local leader is part of. The notes of the conclusion are looking to keep the doors open to other ideas and to continue the research more than to wind up the debate.