Religion, Ethnicity and Race in Brazilian Pluralism: Semiotic Constructions of the Secular

This article examines the connections between secularism and ethnic-racial as well as religious claims within Brazilian pluralist democracy. We use a semiotic analysis in which the categories of race, ethnicity, religion, and the secular are viewed as signs (Gal 2015; Agha 2007). Specifically, we argue that the way these categories are articulated as legal and political signs is key to understanding the semiotic construction of Brazilian secularism. Building on a critical review of existing scholarship, our goal is to map the changing contextual conditions that enable the articulation of these signs while also sometimes altering their meaning and legal scope. Our main point is that so-called ‘ethno-racial minorities’ and ‘religious minorities’ draw on different historic and legal traditions, which need careful clarification. The first section provides a brief historical overview of the semiotic development of these signs, illustrating how they became linked with modernity and the formation of secular nation-states. The second section explores how post-nationalism and post-secularism challenge state sovereignty and transform the semiotic conventional constructs of secularism in Brazil’s democracy.