Biomedical narratives about gender and sexuality in religious contexts: Spain and Mexico

Within the fragmentation of spaces for constructing meaning and the growing mobilization of religious identities in the public sphere, the context of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused an explosion of digital activism. The creation and circulation of content that mixes different symbolic universes and fields of knowledge has proliferated on social networks. In this context, in previous field research we have identified the circulation of content between activisms in Mexico and Spain linked to religious groups. Likewise, we identify an increasingly important use of scientific arguments within debates around the body and gender.

The aim of this project is to recognize and examine key scientific and religious arguments about the body, related to debates about gender and sexuality mobilized by religious and non-religious activists on social media platforms. More specifically, the project will identify profiles and narratives in which religious and non-religious beliefs intersect with the life science of the human body and biomedical knowledge within digital activisms – individuals and organizations – in the Spanish and Mexican contexts.

This project is guided by the following questions:

• How do religious and non-religious beliefs intersect with the science of the life of the human body and biomedical knowledge in the arguments deployed by digital activists – individuals and organizations – in Spain and Mexico?

• What are the relevant social networks for these intersections?

• What are the main scientific and religious arguments they use?

• Is there a line between what is considered legitimate/illegitimate in the scientific field?

• Does religious/spiritual knowledge contribute to shaping this boundary?

Project Details

Coordinate	Dr. Cecilia-Delgado Molina (Principal Investigator).
Co-researchers	Dr. Rafael Cazarín (ISOR UAB), Dra. Maria del Rosari Ramírez Morales (University of Guadalajara; Mexico) & Erick Adrián Paz González (UNAM, Mexico)
Funded by	This project is funded by the International Research Network for Study of Science and Belief in Society (INSBS).