Post-Election Roundup

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Written By Open Plaza

Dr. Jonathan Calvillo and Dr. Erica Ramírez revisit their Latinx voter predictions

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Dr. Erica Ramírez and Dr. Jonathan Calvillo revisit the Latinx voter outcomes they projected in a recent HTI podcast episode about the 2020 presidential election. With the national media attention focused on this diverse voting bloc—the so-called “sleeping giant"—the two sociologists examine some of the narratives spun by the news cycle. Looking at the complexity of what it means to be a U.S. Latino, including demographic breakdowns by state and religion, Dr. Ramírez and Dr. Calvillo delve into the factors that may help to explain why a third of Latina/os have consistently voted Republican since the Richard Nixon administration. “Everyone seems to agree that Latinos are not a monolith—that tends to be one of the big stories,” Dr. Calvillo notes. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that story is out. I’m glad that story is being promoted, but a part of me is concerned if that’s the biggest takeaway.” He hopes that we continue to ask deeper questions about the Latino vote.

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Featured
Jonathan Calvillo

Dr. Jonathan Calvillo is Assistant Professor of Sociology of Religion at Boston University School of Theology. His teaching and research center on the sociological study of religion, race and ethnicity, and immigration. His scholarship examines how religious affiliation influences ethnic identity construction among Latinxs. His new book, The Saints of Santa Ana, from Oxford University Press, examines how practices of lived religion shape ethnic identity among Catholic and evangelical Mexican immigrants. Through his ethnographic research at numerous churches, Dr. Calvillo has contributed to the Latino Protestant Congregations project, which spotlights themes of worship practices, ethnic identity, and community engagement in Latinx churches. Additionally, he has conducted neighborhood-based research within urban, Latinx communities, examining how lived religion shapes collective identities. Alongside his qualitative research, he is currently conducting archival research on Latinx congregations and religious movements. Finally, Dr. Calvillo is conducting an oral history project on hip hop, ethnoracial identities, and spirituality among Latinxs. Born and raised in Southern California, Dr. Calvillo is a second-generation Mexican American. He resides with his partner Nani and their three children in the city of Boston, MA.

Contributors
Erica Ramírez

Dr. Erica M. Ramírez is Director of Applied Research at Auburn Seminary. A fifth-generation Texan, with deep roots in San Antonio, she was previously the Richard B. Parker Assistant Professor of Wesleyan Thought and Heritage at Portland Seminary in Portland, Oregon. Ramirez holds a PhD in Sociology of Religion at Drew University, where she studied under the late Otto Maduro, a leading sociologist of his generation. Her dissertation revisited the Azusa Street mission revival through the frame of the maternal divine, working with themes of revolution, disruption, and the carnivalesque. With broad interests in religion, contemporary politics, and culture, Dr. Ramirez is particularly interested in “how radical religious traditions present as a challenge to and resource against social oppression.” Bridging popular and scholarly audiences, she co-wrote an article on Pentecostals and Donald Trump for The Washington Post and has contributed scholarly articles to Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion, Canadian Journal of Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity, and Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies. She has presented academic papers to the Society for Pentecostal Studies, Association for the Sociology of Religion, and the Red de Investigadores de Fenómenos Religiosos Annual Meeting. Dr. Ramirez is a Hispanic Theological Initiative scholar and a fellow of both the Forum for Theological Exploration and the Louisville Institute. She has three children with her husband, Chris: Judah, Julia, and Camilla.

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