b) Uruguay: Extreme Positive Case Study (Latin America)

Abstract

Secularisation and religiosity in Uruguay are closer to Western European levels than to Latin American averages. The idea of medieval “Christendom” inherited from Hispanic times became obsolete and residual in Uruguay already during the nineteenth century (which is early compared to the rest of Latin America). Uruguay closely followed the laïcité model of the French Revolution without ever completely replicating it. This process resulted in the widespread secularisation of institutional fields, displaced religion to the domestic sphere, and guaranteed the freedom of consciousness and religion. In Uruguay, as well as in Switzerland, Protestantism has played a crucial role along with liberalism in introducing anti-clericalism (and religious freedom) in its constitution and therefore also in its institutions. Protestantism, then, has played a decisive role in shaping the trajectory of democracy, human capital, ethics, transparency, secularisation, and social progress.