Doctoral Dissertation Research: Community-Based Organizations and Immigrant Civic Engagement

susan OlzakMarion coddu斯坦福大学本研究调查了社区组织如何在移民定居社会中塑造移民社会和公民参与。关于公民参与的研究认为，社区组织通过发展社会网络和公民技能来促进社会边缘群体的参与。然而，本研究假设组织社会网络是特定领域的。这意味着他们被导向组织的目标，这可能不是公民导向的。该研究询问了员工、成员和更广泛的机构安排如何定义组织角色或“领域”，以及这些定义如何影响移民社区参与和社会支持。这项研究推进了理论的发展，有助于更好地理解社会网络是如何被形成和维持社会网络的组织所标记的，因此，社会网络在可以动员的项目中受到限制。联合pi研究了移民门户城市及其郊区为拉丁裔移民服务的民间组织的这些过程。从一年多的民族志田野调查中获得的丰富见解与对组织和成员的国家调查进行了三角分析，以提供组织网络和实践的不同政治动员的证据。更广泛的影响由于他们通过国家获得的资源有限，许多移民必须依靠非正式的社会关系和当地组织来建立自己的地位，并在新的社区中获得发言权。然而，成员关系在组织中会带来不同的社会后果。有必要进行研究，从而增加我们对资源如何通过社区组织以不同方式扩散的理解，为成员参与提供各种机会。本研究通过展示组织角色的社会定义如何塑造其提供的机会，为这一知识体系做出了贡献。这项研究的结果将直接与参与研究的组织分享，并将通过学术论文、会议演讲和已发表的报告向学者、政策制定者和非营利组织领导人提供。

SES-1406535Susan OlzakMarion CoddouStanford UniversityThis study investigates how community-based organizations shape migrant social and civic engagement in their settlement societies. Research on civic engagement argues that community organizations boost the participation of socially marginal groups through the development of social networks and civic skills. However, this research posits that organizational social networks are domain specific. This means they are directed toward the organization's goals, which may not be civic oriented. The research asks how organizational roles or "domains" are defined by staff, members, and broader institutional arrangements, and how these definitions impact migrant community engagement and social support. The research advances theory by contributing to a better understanding of how social networks are marked by the organizations that form and sustain them and, as a result, are constrained in the projects under which they can be mobilized. The co-PI examines these processes among civic organizations serving Latino immigrants in an immigrant gateway city and its suburbs. Rich insights gained from over a year of ethnographic fieldwork are triangulated with national surveys of organizations and members to provide evidence of differential political mobilization by organizational networks and practices.Broader ImpactDue to their limited access to resources through the state, many migrants must rely on informal social ties and local organizations to establish themselves and gain a voice in their new communities. However, membership carries distinct social consequences across organizations. There is a need to study and thus increase our understanding of how resources differentially diffuse through community organizations, providing variable opportunities for member engagement. This research contributes to this body of knowledge by showing how social definitions of organizational roles shape the opportunities available through them. The findings of this research will be shared directly with the organizations participating in the study and will be available to scholars, policy makers and nonprofit leaders through scholarly papers, conference presentations, and published reports.