Religious mobility in modernity

theories, concepts, and limits of the notion of conversion in the brazilian religious field

Abstract

The present study examines the main theories on religious mobility and migration in modernity, emphasizing the debate surrounding the concept of conversion within the Brazilian religious field. Based on a systematic theoretical review, this work articulates the contributions of key authors—such as Danièle Hervieu-Léger, Meredith McGuire, Christine Lienemann-Perrin, Alejandro Frigerio, and Silvia Fernandes, among others—to discuss the analytical relevance of categories such as conversion, passage, religious transit, double belonging, and lived religion. The central argument is that, given the increasing individualization and subjectivization of religious experience in late modernity, the classical concept of conversion—anchored in the Pauline paradigm of radical rupture—proves insufficient to capture the complexity and plurality of contemporary religious mobility, especially in the Brazilian context. Therefore, a multidimensional approach is proposed, articulating research axes such as biographical trajectory, motivations for migration, community participation, and the lived experience of faith, while recognizing both intense conversion processes and more gradual, fragmentary, and syncretic forms of religious change.