“Gracias por los favores concedido” Animitas and the Everyday Life in Santiago
Summary
This thesis treats issues about animitas, an expression
of popular religion in Santiago, the capital of Chile.
Through the research of animitas, it is possible to
detect the struggles people encounter in everyday life.
This research focused on issues of space and
networks. The negotiation between the state and
people about space illustrates the dynamics of popular
religion and how people maneuver in those power
relations. The social aspects of animitas shows how
social capital serves as a coping strategy for the
people. Through the lenses of popular religion, larger
processes on societal level reveal. It is through the
notion of religious pluralism that it is possible to reveal
underlying power relations and how agency and
pragmatic issues influence people choices concerning
religion and everyday life.