Seized by the Spirit: The Mystical Foundation of Squatting among Pentecostals in Caracas

The Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future co-sponsored a conference called Religion, Social Movements, and Zones of Crisis in Latin America organized by the Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs in April, 2012. This is recording of one of the talks at that event by an expert on Latin America, Rafael Sánchez from Amsterdam University College titled, “Seized by the Spirit: The Mystical Foundation of Squatting among Pentecostals in Caracas.” In his talk, he discussed his field research with the squatters. He calls their mission, “The most aggressive logic of…spatial occupation I have ever seen.” He said the movement fits into a larger picture of “horizontal recuperation” and a withdrawal from political life in Venezuela.