The Lynching of the Impious: Violence, Politics, and Religion in Mexico (1930s-1960s)
This paper traces the weight of religion in the organization and legitimation of lynching and other expressions of collective violence, such as riots and vigilante killings, in twentieth-century Mexico. In particular, it seeks to address the two following questions: What makes these forms of collective violence religious? What is the entanglement between politics, power, and religion and why does it matter in order to understand how religious violence unfolds?
Respondent: Paul Gillingham, Northwestern University