Professor Cristina Rocha

Professor,
Anthropology & Sociology

Biography
Contact
Publications
Projects
Supervision

Biography

Professor Cristina Rocha is a cultural anthropologist and director of the Religion and Society Research Cluster. She is a former President of the Australian Association for the Study of Religion (2018-2019). She co-edits the Journal of Global Buddhism and the Religion in the Americas series, Brill. She has been a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Utrecht (NL), Kings College and Queen Mary College (UK), CUNY Graduate Centre (USA), and the Max Planck Institute for Religious and Ethnic Diversity (Germany). Her publications have been translated into Japanese, Spanish, French and Portuguese. Her latest book, John of God: The Globalization of Brazilian Faith Healing (OUP 2017) won the Geertz Prize in the Anthropology of Religion at the American Anthropological Association.

Her research focuses on the intersections of globalisation, migration and religion with a special focus on the transnational connections among Brazil, Japan and Australia. She has published on Buddhism in the West and Zen Buddhism in Brazil; the New Age, healing and spirituality; and more recently, on Pentecostal Charismatic Christianities and diasporic communities. She was a recipient of the prestigious ARC Future Fellowship (2014-2018) to research transnational Pentecostal connections between Australia and Brazil and the Brazilian community in Australia, and the ARC Postdoctoral Fellowship (2006-2009). She is currently Chief Investigator in an ARC Discovery project (with Richard Vokes, UWA) titled "The African Diaspora and Pentecostalism in Australia: New Perspectives on Materiality, Media and Religion."

This information has been contributed by Professor Rocha.

Qualifications

PhD University of Western Sydney

Awards

Clifford Geertz Prize, Society for the Anthropology of Religion, American Anthropological Association 2019-11-21
Top forty researchers by publications (2004-2006) triennium awarded by UWS 2007-10-16

Interests

Anthropology of religion and spirituality
Brazilian, Australian and Japanese societies
Cross-cultural negotiations
Global Pentecostalism
Healing, New Age, Illness
Migration and mobility
New Religious Movements
Transnationalism and Diaspora Studies
religion and globalisation

Organisational Unit (School / Division)

Anthropology & Sociology

Contact

Email:	C.Rocha@westernsydney.edu.au
Phone:
Mobile:
Location:

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Publications

Books

Oro, A., Frigerio, A., Saraiva, C., Rocha, C., Castro, C., Rodrigues, D., Bahia, J., Scuro, J., De La Torre, R. and Capone, S. (2024), 'Fluxos Religiosos Transnacionais', : ABA Publications 9786587289298.
Rocha, C. (2024), 'Cool Christianity: Hillsong and the Fashioning of Cosmopolitan Identities', : Oxford University Press 9780197673195.
Rocha, C., Hutchinson, M. and Openshaw, K. (2020), 'Australian Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements: Arguments From the Margins', : Koninklijke Brill 9789004425781.
Rocha, C. (2017), 'John of God:The Globalization of Brazilian Faith Healing', : Oxford University Press 9780190466701.
Rocha, C. (2016), 'O Zen no Brasil: Em Busca da Modernidade Cosmopolita', : Pontes 9788571136731.
Rocha, C. (2006), 'Zen in Brazil: The Quest for Cosmopolitan Modernity', : Hawaii University Press 082482976X.
Morgan, G., Poynting, S. and Rocha, C. (2004), 'Culture and Cultivation: Backyards in Fairfield', : Fairfield City Museum and Gallery 0958541094.

Chapters in Books

Rocha, C. (2020), 'How religions travel : comparing the John of God movement and a Brazilian migrant church', Global Trajectories of Brazilian Religion: Lusospheres, Bloomsbury Academic 9781350072060.
Hutchinson, M., Rocha, C. and Openshaw, K. (2020), 'Introduction : Australian charismatic movements as a space of flows', Australian Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements: Arguments From the Margins, Koninklijke Brill 9789004425781.
Rocha, C. (2020), '"Living the dream" : post-millennial Brazilians at Hillsong College', Australian Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements: Arguments From the Margins, Koninklijke Brill 9789004425781.
Rocha, C. (2017), 'Buddhism in Latin America', Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Buddhism, Oxford University Press 9780199362387.
Rocha, C. (2017), 'The globalization of the John of God movement : cultural translation as glocalization', Handbook of Contemporary Religions in Brazil, Brill 9789004321854.
Rocha, C. (2017), '"The come to Brazil effect" : young Brazilians' fascination with Hillsong', The Hillsong Movement Examined: You Call Me Out Upon the Waters, Springer 9783319596556.
Vasquez, M. and Rocha, C. (2016), 'Introducao : o Brasil na nova cartografia global da religiao ', A Diaspora das Religioes Brasileiras, Ideias & Letras 9788565893923.
Rocha, C. (2016), 'Construindo uma comunidade espiritual transnacional : o movimento religioso de Joao de Deus na Australia', A Diaspora das Religioes Brasileiras, Ideias & Letras 9788565893923.
Rocha, C. and Vasquez, M. (2015), 'The global spread of Brazilian religions', Emergent Brazil: Key Perspectives on a New Global Power, University Press of Florida 9780813060675.
Vasquez, M. and Rocha, C. (2013), 'Introduction: Brazil in the new global cartography of religion', The Diaspora of Brazilian Religions, Brill 9789004236943.
Rocha, C. (2013), 'Zen in Brazil : cannibalizing Orientalist flows', Orientalism and Identity in Latin America: Fashioning Self and Other from the (Post) Colonial Margin, University of Arizona Press 9780816529537.
Rocha, C. (2013), 'Building a transnational spiritual community : the John of God movement in Australia', The Diaspora of Brazilian Religions, Brill 9789004236943.
Rocha, C. (2013), 'John of God and the Casa de Dom Inacio : Westerners at a Brazilian spiritual hospital', The Spiritualist Movement: Speaking With the Dead in America and Around the World. Vol. 1 American Origins and Global Proliferation, Praeger 9780313399473.
Rocha, C. (2012), 'Buddhism and Globalisation', Buddhism in the Modern World, Routledge 9780415780148.
Rocha, C. (2012), 'Becoming a global village : the impact of the John of God Pilgrimage in Abadiania', Pilgrimage in the Age of Globalisation: Constructions of the Sacred and Secular in Late Modernity, Cambridge Scholars Publishing 9781443839044.
Rocha, C. (2011), 'The Brazilian imaginaire of zen : global influences, rhizomatic forms', Religion and Globalization: Critical Concepts in Social Studies, Routledge 9780415550321.
Rocha, C. (2010), 'Can I Put This Jizo Together with the Virgin Mary in the Altar?': Creolizing Zen Buddhism in Brazil', Issei Buddhism in the Americas, University of Illinois Press 9780252092893.
Rocha, C. and Barker, M. (2010), 'Introduction', Buddhism in Australia: Traditions in Change, Routledge 9780415568180.
Rocha, C. (2009), 'A Sotoshu no Brasil: missionarios nikkeis e nao nikkeis', O Nikkei Abrasleirado, FCL Publicacoes 9788588463394.
Rocha, C. (2009), 'Conexiones Sur-Sur: Vivir entre Australia y Brasil', Nuevos Retos del Transnacionalismo en el Estudio de las Migraciones, Ministerio de Trabajo e Imigracion 9788484173120.
Rocha, C. (2008), 'Zen Buddhism in Brazil: Japanese or Brazilian', Latin American Religions: Histories and Documents in Context, NYU Press 9780814767313.
Rocha, C. (2007), 'The Brazilian Imaginaire of Zen: Global Influences, Rhizomatic Forms', Japanese Religions in and Beyond the Japanese Diaspora, Institute of East Asian Studies (ISEAS) 1557290873.
Rocha, C. (2006), 'Spiritual Tourism: Brazilian Faith Healing Goes Global', On the Road to Being There: Studies in Pilgrimage and Tourism in Late Modernity, Brill Academic Publishers 9789004151833.
Rocha, C. (2006), 'Two Faces of God: Religion and Social Class in the Brazilian Diaspora in Sydney', Religious Pluralism in the Diaspora, Brill Academic Publishers 9789004152502.
Rocha, C. (2005), 'Being a Zen Buddhist Brazilian: Juggling Multiple Religious Identities in the land of Catholicism', Buddhist Missionaries in the Era of Globalization, Unicersity of Hawaii Press 0824828100.
Rocha, C. (2002), 'Se voce se deparar com Buda, mate Buda! - Reflexoes sobre a reapropriacao do Zen-Budismo no Brasil', O Budismo no Brasil, Editora Lorosae 8588775077.

Journal Articles

Roginski, A. and Rocha, C. (2022), 'The body as evidence of truth : biomedicine and enduring narratives of religious and spiritual healing', Journal for the Academic Study of Religion, vol 35, no 2 , pp 168 - 191.
Halafoff, A., Weng, E., Roginski, A. and Rocha, C. (2022), 'Introduction to the special issue : (Con)spirituality, science and COVID-19', Journal for the Academic Study of Religion, vol 35, no 2 , pp 133 - 140.
Halafoff, A., Lam, K., Rocha, C., Weng, E. and Smith, S. (2022), 'Buddhism in the Far North of Australia pre-WWII : (in)visibility, post-colonialism and materiality', Journal of Global Buddhism, vol 23, no 2 , pp 105 - 128.
Halafoff, A., Rocha, C. and Shi, J. (2022), 'Flows and counterflows of Buddhism 'South of the West' : Australia, New Zealand, and Hawai'i', Journal of Global Buddhism, vol 23, no 2 , pp 95 - 104.
Rocha, C. (2021), 'Global religious infrastructures : the Australian megachurch Hillsong in Brazil', Social Compass, vol 68, no 2 , pp 245 - 257.
Rocha, C. and De Castro, C. (2021), 'Perspectives nouvelles autour de la mondialisation de la mondialisation du champ religieux bresilien', Social Compass, vol 68, no 2 , pp 151 - 175.
Rocha, C. (2021), 'Cool Christianity : the fashion-celebrity-megachurch industrial complex', Material Religion, vol 17, no 5 , pp 580 - 602.
Rocha, C., Openshaw, K. and Vokes, R. (2021), ''Middle-class' Africans in Australia : choosing Hillsong as a global home', Culture and Religion, vol 22, no 1 , pp 25 - 45.
Rocha, C. (2020), 'Materiality and global spiritual networks : old and new sacred places and objects', Australian Journal of Anthropology, vol 31, no 2 , pp 210 - 223.
Rocha, C. (2019), '"God is in control" : middle-class Pentecostalism and international student migration', Journal of Contemporary Religion, vol 34, no 1 , pp 21 - 37.
Rocha, C. (2016), 'A Megaigreja Hillsong no Brasil : a constituicao de um campo religioso transnacional entre o Brasil e a Australia', Plural, vol 23, no 2 , pp 162 - 181.
Rocha, C. (2015), 'A globalizac?o da cura espirita : biomedicina, Jo?o de Deus e seus seguidores australianos', Tempo Social, vol 27, no 1 , pp 95 - 115.
Rocha, C. and Coronado, G. (2014), 'Imagining Latin America in Australia : migration, culture and multiculturalism', Journal of Intercultural Studies, vol 35, no 5 , pp 467 - 474.
Wulfhorst, C., Rocha, C. and Morgan, G. (2014), 'Intimate multiculturalism : transnationalism and belonging amongst Capoeiristas in Australia', Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol 40 , no 11 , pp 1798 - 1816.
Rocha, C. (2014), 'A globalizac?o do budismo', Estudos de Religi?o, vol 28, no 2 , pp 59 - 73.
Rocha, C. (2014), 'Triangular circulation : Japanese Brazilians on the move between Japan, Australia and Brazil', Journal of Intercultural Studies, vol 35, no 5 , pp 493 - 512.
Rocha, C. and Vasquez, M. (2014), 'O Brasil na nova cartografia global da religi?o', Religi?o & Sociedade, vol 34, no 1 , pp 13 - 37.
Rocha, C. (2013), 'Transnational Pentecostal connections : an Australian megachurch and a Brazilian church in Australia', PentecoStudies, vol 12, no 1 , pp 62 - 82.
Rocha, C. (2011), 'Establishing the John of God movement in Australia : healing, hybridity and cultural appropriation', Ethnologies, vol 33, no 1 , pp 143 - 167.
Rocha, C. (2011), 'Soto Zenshu no Brasil : a zrioulizac?o de praticas cotidianas', Revista de Estudos da Religi?o (REVER), vol 11, no 2 , pp 87 - 100.
Rocha, C. (2010), 'A Globalizacao do Espiritismo: fluxos do movimento religioso de Joao de Deus entre a Australia e o Brasil', Revista de Anthropologia, vol 52, no 2 , pp 571 - 603.
Rocha, C. (2009), 'Global Power Relations at Play in Fieldwork: Researching Spiritism in Brazil', Fieldwork in Religion, vol 3, no 2 , pp 145 - 160.
Rocha, C. (2009), 'Seeking healing transnationally: Australians, John of God and Brazilian Spiritism', Australian Journal of Anthropology, vol 20, no 2 , pp 229 - 246.
Rocha, C. (2008), 'All the Roads Come from Zen: Busshinji as a Reference to Buddhism', Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, vol 35, no 1 , pp 81 - 94.
Rocha, C. (2007), 'Quetes transnationales de medecines 'traditionnelles' : la guerison spirituelle bresilienne en Oceanie', Socio-Anthropologie, vol 21 , pp 37 - 50.
Rocha, C. (2006), 'A Long and Winding Road: Cross-Cultural Connections between Brazil, Australia and Japan', New Voices: Cross-Cultural Encounters in the Australia Japan Relationship, vol 1 , pp 35 - 45.
Morgan, G., Rocha, C. and Poynting, S. (2005), 'Grafting Cultures: Longing and Belonging in Immigrants' Gardens in Fairfield', Journal of Intercultural Studies, vol 26, no 1-2 , pp 93 - 105.
Rocha, C. (2004), 'Zazen or nor Zazen: The predicament of Sotoshu's Kaikyoshi in Brazil', Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, vol 31, no 1 , pp 163 - 184.

Conference Papers

Rocha, C. (2001), 'Catholicism and Zen Buddhism: A Vision of the Religious Field in Brazil', Australian Association for the Study of Religions, 1999, Sancta Sophia College, University of Sydney.

Other Publications

2023, 'African Expressions of Christianity in Australia', Report
2008, 'Rituals and Traditions', Published Work

Research interests:

Globalisation
Anthropology of religion and spirituality
Global Pentecostalism
New Religious Movements
Buddhism in the West
Healing, New Age, Illness
Transnationalism
Migration
Cross-cultural negotiations
Late Modernity
Brazilian, Australian and Japanese societies