The New Christian Militarism

What does it mean to dispute the hearts and minds of society today? In Latin America, the specter of grassroot base-building (trabalho de base) haunts us, and Evangelicals have seized the moment, conquering not only civil society but also state institutions. Inside the Brazilian police forces, precarious officers are increasingly converting to Christianity, and finding solidarity networks that answers to concrete problems they cannot find anywhere else: visibility, empathy, purpose. In the process, the police is also transforming itself, becoming more religious. The police mandate and police violence become justified on theological grounds, and officers start to see themselves as instruments of God in a spiritual battle between Good and Evil. This project, based on years of ethnographic work, investigates the impact of Evangelical activism within the police forces in Brazil and its relationship to far-right order-building. Below is a selection of outputs from this project.

  • Revista Piauí is Brazil’s most prestigious magazine for investigative journalism long-form essays. Read my article Pastores no Coração da Tropa (2025) here.

  • Rádio Novelo is a powerhouse for narrative podcasts in Brazil. Their flagship series, Rádio Novelo Apresenta, has won international awards and is listened by hundreds of thousands of people every week. Romanos 13 is an episode produced by journalist Carolina Moraes that delves deep into my research about Evangelicals in the Military Police. Listen here.

  • I am currently directing a documentary about the politics of religious activism inside the police forces in Brazil. The film is currently in production. You can find out more information here.

  • Policing Souls, Redeeming Nations: Evangelical Activism and the Far-Right Counterpolitics of Emotions in the Brazilian Police, International Political Sociology (2026)

    The pacification model in Port-au-Prince and Rio de Janeiro as a prefiguration of Bolsonarismo? Reflections on the far-right turn and the role of military-religious actors in security governance in Brazil. European Journal of International Security (2025)

    The International Turn in Far-Right Studies: A Critical Assessment. Millenium: Journal of International Relations (2023)

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