Bem viver and Afro-brazilian religion: A possible approach?

Abstract

This  article  aims  to  make  an  approximation  between  the  concept  of  Bem  Viverand Afro-Brazilian  religious  practices.  The  question  that  guides  reflection  is:  can  Afro-Brazilian religions, a direct result of colonialism, be interpreted under the esthological basis  of  Bem  Viver  and  as  an  alternative  to  development?  Through  a  bibliographic review,  some  aspects  of  these  religions  were  highlighted,  such  as  the  relationship between Afro-Brazilian religions and Nature, with the Orixás elements of Nature being divinized; its ethics of transformation and circulation, manifested above all through the preparation, circulation and distribution of food; the relationship of these religions with the  property  where  the  cults  take  place -the  terreiros,  which  are  social  and  common spaces,  even  called  "the  saint's  house",  indicating  that  the  property there  is  of  the divinity and not of human beings; besides ancestry, conviviality and reciprocity present in  the  terreiros.  Despite  the  fact  that  Afro-Brazilian  religious  practices  are  forms  of resistance  and  point  to  other  possibilities  of  life  that  come  close  to  Bem  Viver,  the absence  of  an  explicit  economic  proposal  for  development  and  capitalism  in  these religions is highlighted.