The global and national in an international evangelical meeting in Buenos Aires

Abstract

The subject of this paper is the articulation between the global and the national in an international Evangelical meeting called “Breakthrough 2008”, held in Buenos Aires in September, 2008. It begins by presenting an ethnographic account of the meeting’s various aspects, such as the event’s organization, its main rituals, and the participants’ social profile. Next, it analyzes the life story of its four chief protagonists. One sees that an opening to the global is part of their calling, something that was much highlighted throughout the event. Simultaneously, the national dimension was evoked especially by the faithful, through the waving of national flags. The approximation and tension between the global and the national dimensions in a religious event which gathered over two thousand Evangelicals from thirteen countries are thus the central focus of this study.