Cover -- Peasants and Religion: A socioeconomic study of Dios Olivorio and the Palma Sola Movement in the Dominican Republic -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of figures -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Some Spanish and Creole* words that appear in the text -- Map of the Dominican Republic -- Map of the Olivorista heartland -- 1 Introduction -- The subject -- The local scene -- A plausible story -- Peasants and outsiders -- The problem of oral transmission -- The hidden transcript -- The spiritual sphere -- Religion in peasant society: a local phenomenon -- The socioeconomic context: the failure to inculturate capitalism -- The scene of modernization -- Part I The events -- 2 Olivorio Mateo: The life and death of a peasant god, 1908-22 -- A strange savior -- The source material: myth and reality -- The field laborer -- The great storm -- The three signs -- The cult site -- The thaumaturge -- Promiscuity? -- Life within Olivorio's community -- Olivorio's teachings -- The followers of Olivorio -- The Olivorista dress -- Olivorio and the Americans -- The Haitian connection -- On the run -- Olivorio and urban residents -- The death of Olivorio -- The heritage of Olivorio -- 3 Interlude: The survival of Olivorismo, 1922-61 -- The occupation and the San Juan elite: resistance and collaboration -- The Yanquis and the Olivoristas -- Departure of the Americans and return of the caudillos -- The San Juan Valley under President Vásquez: 'The principality of the Ramírezes' -- The survival of the cult -- The rise of Trujillo and the subjugation of the Ramírezes -- Trujillo's initial attacks on the Olivoristas -- The Dorninicanization of the San Juan Valley -- The Ramírezes under Trujillo -- Trujillo and the Olivoristas -- 4 Palma Sola: The revival of Olivorismo, 1961-62 -- Olivorio resurrected: the twins of Palma Sola.

The foundation and organization of Palma Sola -- The road to the massacre -- The massacre -- After the massacre -- Part II: The myth -- 5 Olivorista lore -- Folklore -- A magical environment -- Olivorista salves -- The great code -- A legendary life of Olivorio -- The salves and the theology of Palma Sola -- The violent message: sectarians and outsiders -- The hidden transcript of Olivorismo -- Conclusions -- Appendix: Jonestown and Palma Sola -- Part III: The causes -- 6 Popular religion in the Dominican Republic and its influence on Olivorismo -- The Indian presence in Dominican popular religion -- The religion of the conquistadores -- The cofradías: an Afro-European fusion -- Other expressions of popular religion in the Dominican Republic reflected in Olivorismo -- Rural prophets in the Dominican Republic -- Conclusions -- 7 Economic and political change in the San Juan Valley, 1503-1922 -- The San Juan Valley -- The economy: the early years -- In the doldrums -- The creation of a trade pattern -- Consolidation of the pattern -- Land tenure: the rise of the terrenos comuneros -- Destruction of the cattle economy -- The Haitian occupation: the rise of a peasantry -- The late nineteenth century -- Property rights in land -- Socioeconomic changes: the sugar industry -- Changes in the Southwest -- The border problem -- Surveying the land -- Political chaos and anarchy: the crisis of caudillismo -- War and occupation -- The gavilleros -- A social bandit -- Olivorio's appeal -- Who killed Olivorio? -- 8 A new era: Economic change, politics and Palma Sola, 1922-63 -- The American heritage -- The Vásquez years: irrigation and colonization -- The Dominican economy under Trujillo -- The San Juan Valley under Trujillo -- The sección of Carrera de Yeguas at the beginning of the 1960s -- Local politics and Palma Sola -- National politics and Palma Sola.

9 Justifying a massacre: Official religion and ideology in the Dominican Republic, 1492-1962 -- The condemnation of Palma Sola -- True Spaniards versus Ethiopian vices -- The Dominican church and the Spanish crown -- 'Negroes' and 'Indians' -- The black 'menace' from the west -- Voodoo as the ultimate threat to Hispanidad -- El Fefe and his crusade against voodoo -- The Catholic church and its Benefactor -- The changing attitude of the church -- Part IV: The wider context -- 10 Prophets, messiahs and gods: Olivorismo in a universal context -- Was Olivorio a charismatic leader? -- El Gran Poder de Dios -- The illiterate message -- Thaumaturges -- Prophet, messiah or god? -- The taxonomy problem -- The spirit of the place: La Maguana and Palma Sola as hierophany -- Communitas -- Pilgrimages -- Conclusions -- 11 Conclusions -- Biography -- The emergence of a folk religion -- The creation of a myth -- The economics of continuity and change -- The border: trade and prejudice -- The political dimension -- Topdogs, underdogs and social bandits -- The right time and the right place but the wrong men -- The global context -- 12 Epilogue 1963-90 -- Bosch, Imbert, Caamaño and the 1965 civil war -- Some other actors -- The survivors -- Bosch, Balaguer and the Olivoristas -- Conclusions -- References -- Index.

This book examines the relationship between economics, politics and religion through the case of Olivorio Mateo and the religious movement he inspired from 1908 in the Dominican Republic. The authors explore how and why the new religion was formed, and why it was so successful. Comparing this case with other peasant movements, they show ways in which folk religion serves as a response to particular problems which arise in peasant societies during times of stress.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2018. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.