Pilgrims and Converts. Researcher(s) of Afro-Religious Phenomenon in Colombia: A Neccesary Theoretical-Methodological Discussion

Abstract

This paper is the result of theoretical-methodological considerations about the study of religious phenomenon. More specifically, I interested in the research of Afro-inspired religious systems in Colombia; the argument emphasizes several contradictory and tense situations for ethnographers-researchers, who are involved in academic world and in their fieldwork. Thus, these problematic situations are derived, for instance, from the same research topic, the theoretical-methodological approaches, and the narrative form or kind of writing selected by the researchers. Scholars of religious phenomena are seen by their peers suspiciously, and it is a consequence of an ancient controversy within the social science that persists in opposing issues such as objectivity/subjectivity, science/religion or thrut/belief. Finally, these discussions involve an ethical challenge to the way of doing research about these sociocultural dynamics that become relevant in Colombia, and the contemporary world.