Henrique Fernandes Antunes – författare

This book represents a unique contribution to understanding the interactions between law and religion in contemporary Brazil. It analyzes how the regulation of religions according to the classical notion of secularism has become a source of tensions since the 1990s. Against this background, the respective chapters demonstrate, on the basis of various case studies, how the constitutional principle of pluralism, introduced by the 1988 federal constitution after a military dictatorship, has been addressed by new political actors, such as religious leaders, parliamentarians, influencers, state representatives, and activists. In particular, the chapters demonstrate how the mobilization of legal language, notably the language of human rights, has become fundamental to developing and consolidating new political agendas concerning secularism, tolerance, freedom of expression, gender and sexuality, family, and cultural heritage. In the authors’ approach, human rights assume a central role in social disputes as a language in which actors constitute themselves as rights subjects, form activist networks, and pursue their goals by expressing themselves in public. Given its focus and scope, the book will be of interest to all scholars seeking to understand the relationships between diversity and the regulation of religious practices in plural societies, where the classical notion of secularism continues to show its limitations.

In particular, the chapters demonstrate how the mobilization of legal language, notably the language of human rights, has become fundamental to developing and consolidating new political agendas concerning secularism, tolerance, freedom of expression, gender and sexuality, family, and cultural heritage.

This book explores the emergence of the religious use of ayahuasca as a subject of public interest and state intervention in Brazil, the United States, and France. In Brazil, since the 1980s, ayahuasca use has been permitted by the National Council on Drug Policies exclusively for religious purposes. In the late 2000s, public policies shifted from drug control to cultural heritage, following demands by groups from Acre for recognition of their practices as intangible heritage.In the United States, two Brazilian religions – União do Vegetal (UDV) and Santo Daime – as well as two non-Christian churches – the Church of the Eagle and the Condor and the Church of the Celestial Heart – secured the legal right to use ayahuasca. Through legal battles and settlements, they obtained exemptions from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).In France, ayahuasca was banned in 2005, just three months after a Santo Daime group successfully appealed drug charges. Today, ayahuasca remains illegal; groups are often labeled as dangerous cults and seen as threats to French republican ideals.Inspired by the anthropology of secularism and the sociology of public problems, the book examines how terms like religion, cult, drug, hallucinogen, and cultural heritage are mobilized by various actors in public disputes to shape perceptions and influence policy. It draws on legal cases, public policies, legislation, academic literature, social media, institutional documents, and interviews with key figures involved in regulatory debates.The central thesis – ayahuasca as a lens to understand how states define religion and determine legitimate religious practice – offers fresh perspectives on the intersections of religious freedom, drug policy, and state authority. Bridging multiple disciplines, the book contributes to debates on law and religion, and to a deeper understanding of how democracies manage minority faiths, cultural rights, and the boundaries of state intervention.