Stephen Selka

Rural Women and the Varieties of Black Politics in Bahia, Brazil

This article focuses on the Afro-Catholic Sisterhood of Our Lady of Good Death (Boa Morte) in the rural town of Cachoeira in the state of Bahia, Brazil. I examine the tensions between the sisters of Boa Morte and male religious and political actors from the city, including Catholic priests, elite politicians, and black movement activists. I examine how the women of Boa Morte make strategic use of the limited political resources available to them in their rural communities in order to insure that their sisterhood continues and thrives. Along the way, I emphasize the ways that gender conditions access to religious and political resources in rural Bahia.