Social Movements and Political and Religious Engagement

SES-0819001 Rebecca SagerLoyola Marymount UniversityThe美国在公共领域有一定程度的世俗化，宗教参与公民生活是政治和社区参与的重要来源。这种参与可以采取各种形式，包括建立社会运动组织，其议程基于宗教理想，并利用宗教信息来说服选民。这个项目研究宗教与政治互动之间的关系。 PI将分析在2008年总统竞选期间通过实地研究和对一个自由福音派社会运动组织的采访收集的数据，以回答三个主要的研究问题：宗教如何被用作社会运动战略？ 人们如何通过互动来协商他们的宗教和政治观点？ 为什么有些宗教信息被认为比其他信息更有效？ 虽然目前对宗教和社会运动的研究已经提供了一个更好的理解宗教的作用，在创建框架周围感知的宗教信仰的成员，社会运动的互动过程往往是更复杂的，少得多的战略，比占的理论概念的框架。这项研究考察了人们将行动和言语放在一起的过程和机制，这是一种将扩展社会运动理论的研究策略。此外，这项研究将有助于阐明关键的应用问题，即是什么激励和动摇选民。是社会运动领导人创造的思想吸引了选民，还是邀请他们成为共同文化和宗教身份的一部分？我们对宗教有什么假设，以及它对他人有什么影响？这些问题的答案对于众多的观众来说很重要，他们有兴趣了解人们为什么会这样投票。此外，在考虑政策制定及其对代表性不足社区的影响时，研究这一主题可能特别重要。基于宗教左派社会运动行动的政治领导层的变化可能导致国家和社会政策的实质性变化，以及更大的文化趋势。

SES-0819001Rebecca SagerLoyola Marymount UniversityThe United States has a certain level of secularization within the public sphere and religious involvement in civic life is a vital source of political and community involvement. This involvement can take various forms including creating social movement organizations with agendas based on religious ideals and using religious messages in the hopes of persuading voters. This project studies the relationship between religion and political interactions. The PI will analyze data collected through field research and interviews at a liberal evangelical social movement organization, during the Presidential campaign in 2008 to answer three main research questions: How is religion used as a social movement strategy? How do people negotiate through interaction their religious and political viewpoints? Why are some religious messages perceived as more valid than others? While current research on religion and social movements has offered an increased understanding of the role of religion in creating frames around perceived religious beliefs of members, the processes of social movement interaction are often much more complex, and much less strategic, than is accounted for by the theoretical notion of frames. The study examines the processes and mechanisms by which people put actions and words together, a research strategy that will expand social movement theory. Additionally, this study will help shed light on key applied questions about what it is that motivates and sways voters. Is it the ideas created by social movement leaders that attract voters, or is it the invitation to be part of a shared cultural and religious identity? What assumptions do we make about religion and how it matters to others? Answers to these questions are important to the numerous audiences who have a stake in understanding why people vote the way that they do. In addition, researching the subject may be especially important when considering policy development and its impact on underrepresented communities. A change in political leadership based on social movement action from the religious left could lead to substantive changes in state and social policy, as well as larger cultural trends.