Abstract
This article discusses a specific dimension of the recent development of civil society in Brazil: the field of NGOs. The formation of this field is presented as an unintended consequence of the approach of Catholic activists with left wing ideologies in the middle of the twentieth century. I build on the notion of sociogenesis in order to articulate the macro-structural sphere of formation of the field of NGOs in Brazil to the biographical sphere of one of its main actors, Herbert de Souza, popularly known as Betinho. There is a strong correspondence between both domains. Betinho's biography synthesizes on an individual level a large part of the transformations that underpinned the emergence of the NGO field in Brazil: (i) the approximation and subsequent separation between religion and politics, (ii) the diversification of advocacy themes and agendas, and (iii) the re-creation of emotional links with politics outside the conventional arenas of representation. Betinho's trajectory individualizes and imprints bodily contours to profound structural transformations of national political life, both related to institutions and to the political culture. The formation of the NGO field was an unexpected result of this process is closely related to the formation of Betinho's political activism.
Keywords:
religion and politics; structure and action; civil society; NGOs; Betinho